


Journey to Somewhere New (Sun Wukong x reader)

by Emmaihatethisnamesystem



Category: Xi You Ji | Journey to the West - Wu Cheng'en, 西游记之大圣归来 | Monkey King: Hero is Back (2015), 西遊 | Journey to the West (Chow Movies)
Genre: Can apply to any version of Sun Wukong I believe, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, F/M, For now it’s a two people journey, I love character banter, Sequel (kinda), Some cameos of canon characters scattered around, Some tragic love stuff for our boy Monkey, idk I haven’t seen them all, lots of character banter, original (kinda), x Reader, ‘New generation’ type of stuff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 59,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27539794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emmaihatethisnamesystem/pseuds/Emmaihatethisnamesystem
Summary: [A kinda sequel to Journey to the West while also being based on the Journey to the West]All your life you’ve heard all about the tales of the Great Sage equal to Heaven and his companion. Little did you know that their journey wasn’t over yet and you’re gonna have to finish it.
Relationships: Monkey King/Reader, Sun Wukong/Reader, Sūn Wùkōng | Monkey King/Táng Sānzàng | Tripitaka
Comments: 28
Kudos: 60





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Keep in mind my white ass only knows the basics of Chinese culture. I'm just a fan of the book (and a Sun Wukong simp) and I do my best to do my research. Keep in mind the liberties I'm taking are for the sake of storytelling, but if I cross the line and I'm being culturally insensitive, please let me know.

_Tripitaka fell on his knees with his hands on the floor and his head hung down, panting after using all of his energy on his protection sutras. The demon king, standing in front of him and with his generals and their armies behind him, laughed._

_"Is that all the chosen one, the righteous monk Tripitaka can do?!" he asked. "Protection sutras?!" he leaned closer, the monk didn't look up. "I suppose when you have the Monkey King by your side, you're bound to slack off."_

_Under his breath, the monk closed his eyes and recited another sutra. The demon king kept talking as his smirk grew larger, revealing his sharp teeth._

_"But your precious bodyguard isn't here anymore, he is back for another few centuries buried under a mountain." he snickered. "Except this time his master won't be there to save him!" his snicker turned into a laugh._

_Tripitaka ignored him and kept reciting his sutra. Hearing no begging for mercy, the king looked closer and noticed what he was doing. Tripitaka started to glow in a gentle blue light, as soon as it happened, the king grabbed him by the throat with a single hand and lifted his body._

_"Reciting yet another sutra? I have to admit, your stubbornness is admirable."_

_When the light around him disappeared, Tripitaka opened his eyes again and the demon king gasped. His bright cyan blue eyes, signifying his 'chosen one' status, turned a regular brown._

_"What did you do?" the demon slowly asked, furious._

_"My last resort." Tripitaka painfully said with a dry voice. "I transferred all of my powers to a child who has just been born somewhere in China."_

_"You mean...You mean there is now a new reincarnation of Golden Cicada?!"_

_"There may be a new chosen one, but there will always be one Monkey." the monk smiled. "And once the two of them are united, together they'll carry on the journey to the west."_

_"I will stop them!"_

_"I'm sure you'll try. And knowing Monkey, he'd never pass an opportunity for 'a good ass-kicking revenge'." he chuckled._

_The demon king became frustrated with how calm Tripitaka was._

_"You would give your life away and place your trust in a stupid violence-hungry self-centered monkey who didn't want to be your disciple in the first place?!"_

_"I'm doing it right now aren't I?" he looked him in the eyes, still smiling._

_The demon's fist clenched, he took out his sword and plunged it through his heart._

_It was a dark and rainy day, friends battled and died. And somewhere, trapped inside a mountain, a monkey was struggling shouting in rage and desperation._

_And the years passed..._

"And so, the Great Sage equal to Heaven ate all of the peaches of immortality-"

"Wait," one of the disciples interrupted his master. "so he's...double immortal?"

"Well no." another disciples said. "The Tao doesn't make him immortal per se, it just makes him ageless."

"Isn't that the same thing though?"

"I mean-yeah, but the Tao has to be regularly practiced, the peaches are more concrete. You can just eat one of them and boom."

"Either way," a third one joined the conversation. "why did he eat *all* the peaches? One was just enough."

"He didn't eat them for the immortality. I'm pretty sure he just likes peaches."

"Also wasn't it his job to guard them?! Because of him the Jade Emperor had to wait years for new ones to grow so they could hold the peach festival. How stupid and impulsive."

"That's the Monkey King in a nutshell."

The three disciples snickered. Though those were three out of thirty-seven who weren't paying attention, it was enough for the high monk to stop in his tale and irritate him.

"Excuse me." his clear voice made them suddenly sit straight. "Although yes it was stupid and impulsive of him, knowing the tales of the Monkey King is essential to your training."

"To know what not to do?"

"Yes but not just that-"

"Sun Wukong is so cool!!!"

Before the monk could further explain himself, everyone turned their heads towards a corner of the room where young ten-year-old (Y/n) has been too invested in the Monkey King's story to listen to anything else.

"He never backs down even when he's facing THE Jade Emperor's army of heaven!" she kept praising, her eyes full of stars. "He's so courageous and strong!"

"(Y/n)!"

She suddenly tensed up and turned around to face her master, standing like a soldier.

"I've told you many times, you can join the class only if you stay quiet and pay attention." he said, trying to stay calm.

"Sorry dad."

"And I'm not your dad."

"Sorry Grandpa."

"I'm not your grandpa either!" he seemed offended. "I'm not that old!"

"...Is that-" one of the disciples started to whisper. "Is that actually why he's telling Sun Wukong's tales?"

"Because (Y/n) loves them?"

"Oh that is so cute-WAH!"

Of course their almost father-daughter relationship was known by the older disciples, but those just learned to never say such thing out loud in their master's presence. As soon as those words escaped his lips, the old monk threw his cane at him and it landed horizontally on his forehead, making him fall backwards. Young (Y/n) tilted her head, unlike her father figure, she didn't hear what was said.

"The only thing I wanna hear from you are the prayers you'll be studying for an extra hour after class!"

The disciple groaned, rubbing the red spot on his forehead.

"Master, speaking of which:" another one pointed out the window. "the sun has touched the peak of the mountain, can we go?"

The monk looked for himself, it was indeed time for them to leave the main temple for the day. He sighed.

"Fine. But before you leave: what is the moral of this story?"

"Oh!" (Y/n) raised her hand. "That you should follow your instincts even when they go against rules, but also that you should learn how to stop while you can!"

"Wha-no!" he said. "That you should stay in your place, not steal, and learn how to stop while you-actually that last one was good." he pointed at her and she smiled widely.

"So can we go now master?"

"Yes," he waved his hand. "class dismissed."

All the students, except one who dragged his feet to the library, went out, excited to do whatever they want for the rest of the day. Young (Y/n) picked up her master's cane from the ground and gave it back to him.

"Thank you." he took it with a nod and used it to stand up before slowly walking towards the exit.

"Master... Wu-peng, Shen and Bao asked if I could go play with them." she nervously said while playing with her fingers. "Can I?"

"'Course you can."

"Yes! Thank you master!" she jumped from joy before rushing out.

"Now wait right there young lady."

She stopped at the large double-doorways, her shoulders tensed. Her master stood beside her and they faced each-other.

"You seem a bit too enthusiastic for my taste." he narrowed his eyes and lifted an eyebrow, stroking his necklace. "Where exactly are you kids planning to go?"

"Um...not far."

"'Not far' as in: around the monastery?" he leaned closer.

"Umm..."

The two of them stared into each-other's eyes. Eventually, (Y/n) glanced at the forest surrounding a mountain, beyond the village which is down the little hill the monastery was on top of. It was very brief, but the monk noticed. He frowned.

"You are not to go past the village alone child, it is far too dangerous."

She groaned, he would always talk all solemnly and call her 'child' when he was dead serious.

"But they said they know super cool spots! Bao said he once saw an Earth God!"

"They're the youngest, they're still bold and reckless, do not let them influence you." he started to walk away. "And I'm sure Bao just said that to impress you."

"Nu-hu, he saw it! I just wanna go play and have fun!"

"You can do that in the monastery or in the village, where it's safe."

She clenched her fists.

"How would you know?!" she shouted, making him turn around. "You never left this place either! Stupid old man!" she ran away.

The monk sighed, thinking she was too young to understand.

"(Y/n)?" Bao, ten years old as well and the youngest of the three, walked in her room with his two friends.

The curtains were drawn and she was curled up at the end of her bed, hugging a doll made, by her master years ago, to resemble Sun Wukong.

"I guess the master said no." Wu-peng, the oldest, said as they walked up to her.

She sniffed.

"He said it was too dangerous." she spoke in a little voice. "And he said Bao lied just to look cool."

"I-I didn't!" he exclaimed, his cheeks a shade redder.

"Pfff." Shen shook his head. "The old man doesn't know the forest like we do." he pointed at himself with his thumb. "We would explore it everyday long before we joined the monastery."

"Woa~." (Y/n) looked at him in awe. "Really?"

He nodded and then thought for a moment.

"You know," he smirked. "master will be busy today with his weekly rituals. He won't notice if you're gone."

Her and Bao's eyes widen, shocked at the prospect of rule-breaking. Though she was excited and Bao was terrified.

"Are you sure about this?" Wu-peng looked at him. "If he finds out, who knows what trouble we'll be in."

"We'll be fine~," he waved his hand and ruffled her hair. "(Y/n)'s clever, she knows how to keep it on the down low. Right (Y/n)?"

She enthusiastically nodded, making him chuckle.

"See?"

"Okay then, but we'll have to get back before it gets dark."

(Y/n) quickly got out of bed and started changing from her inside outfit to something comfortable to hike in, the boys quickly walked out before they could see anything, closing the door behind them.

"Does this girl not know that we're men?" Shen asked.

"She doesn't care," Wu-peng chuckled, shaking his head. "she only cares for her dear Monkey King."

He heard Bao sigh and saw the sad look on his face, he gave him a friendly smack on the arm.

"Don't be sad man, one day she'll notice you."

"Wha-what?!" he blushed.

(Y/n) knew the village like the back of her hand so she easily lead the way, though she didn't forget to be polite and say hello back to the people who greeted her. The boys had a bit of a hard time keeping up.

She stopped at the edge of the village, in front of the tall trees. All her life she could only look and imagine what they were hiding. She looked down and took a step, her foot left the cobbled floor and set on the green grass. She softly gasped and took another step. She looked up at the young boys with big eyes, they smiled.

"Come on, let's go." Wu-peng gestured her to follow him as they went ahead.

She let the boys lead the way this time, looking around and stopping at every little new thing she saw, and every time the two oldest would press her on.

"It's so vast." she said. "It's like...ten villages!"

"Yeah, but don't worry, you won't get lost as long as you're with us." Shen smiled.

"I-If you're scared, you can...hold my hand." Bao offered her his hand.

"It's okay, I have Sun Wukong to protect me!" she raised her doll and suddenly gasped. "Is that a bird nest?!" (Y/n) rushed towards a tree.

He sighed, Shen patted his shoulder before they caught up to her.

"Sounds like there are still babies in there." Wu-peng said, looking up at one of the branches.

"I've never seen baby birds before!" she started to climb. 

"(Y/n)!"

"I just wanna take a look!"

"Be careful!" Bao exclaimed. 

But the boys weren't worry. (Y/n) wasn't the most athletic ('she's a girl after all', the ten, eleven and twelve-year-old boys thought) but she was one hell of a climber: one of her hobbies was to get on top of the main temple's roof to admire the landscape. Within seconds, she was sitting on the branch and carefully scooted over the nest. 

"You're amazing." Bao whispered.

"Aww~ they're so tiny!" she leaned closer, surprisingly for the boys, the birds didn't panic. "I wonder if you have names."

Wu-peng and Shen glanced at each-other at her comment, reminded that this little girl has been living all her life secluded up the hill. Suddenly, loud footsteps, enough to shake the trees, made the babies panic. Holding the tree trunk, she looked down at her friends. 

"Monsters!" Shen looked at the oldest.

"(Y/n)! Get down quick!"

"B-but the babies will be eaten!"

He clicked his tongue and picked up Bao, setting him on a branch. The boy was confused but started climbing up to join (Y/n) without questions.

"Bao, protect her! We'll go get help, we're faster anyway."

"Okay."

"Don't move you two, and be quiet. Be right back."

And with that, the two of them ran away. As the footsteps came closer and closer, (Y/n) squeezed her doll close to her chest and closed her eyes, Bao hugged her from behind as a way to protect her.

"Where are you going?" a loud and low voice asked.

"I heard some birds nearby," another similar voice, much closer, responded. "you know I never pass the opportunity to get a quick snack."

The two kids glanced at each-other in terror, holding their breath.

"Don't get off track! We gotta go! I am not going to be late again because of you!"

"Urh~ fine!" 

The footsteps slowly faded away after that. (Y/n) and Bao waited a moment before letting out a long relieved sigh.

"Why do we even have to come to this meeting?" the voice continued. "It's just a report on this stupid monkey."

"Because if thing get out of hand, our lord will need his generals to act as soon as possible to deal with that damn monkey."

"Urh~!"

"Sun Wukong?" (Y/n) whispered, suddenly interested.

She let go of the tree trunk and slowly descended from the tree. Poor Bao clumsily followed her in a panic.

"C-come on, he's not the only demon monkey in China." he whispered.

"If a demon lord is so scared that he needs his whole army to protect him just in case, then the guy they're talking about is crazy strong. Who else could it be but him?"

"(Y-Y/n) please~, let's just go back while they're not looking." he whined.

"But if Sun Wukong is in trouble, we have to help him." she looked back at him. "And even if he isn't, it'd be good to know where the monsters' HQ is. Now ssssh, you're gonna blow our cover."

Bao gulped.

After a short while, they finally saw the monsters: two three-meters-tall beings with long hair and horns. One had purple horns, the other red.

"Demons." (Y/n) whispered, both scared and mesmerized.

Because she wasn't watching where her feet were landing, she stepped on a stick and broke it. Bao quickly pulled her behind a tree with him before the two demons could see anything as they turned around.

"Did you hear something?" one asked.

"...Maybe just the wind."

They looked at each-other because walking again.

Once again, the two kids let out a long yet quiet sigh of relief.

"Thank you Bao." she smiled.

He blushed.

"Huh-uh-hehe, you're welco-"

"Come on now." she came out of their hiding spot. "We're gonna lose them."

Bao was a bit disappointed, still this was one of the few times she thanked him for something he did and he will cherish this moment.

Following them at a safe distance, they eventually stopped once they saw them enter a cave.

"Okay, we know where their HQ is, can we go now?" Bao tugged on her sleeve.

(Y/n) kept watching with narrowed eyes. A few seconds passed before she nodded with a hum. As soon as they turned around, a whip wrapped itself around Bao and pulled him inside the cave.

"Bao!" she yelled as he screamed, running after him.

Once she stepped foot in the cave, she could hear the monsters laughing.

"I'm actually impressed that you didn't follow us all the way." the one with the red horns, holding Bao said. "Too bad you human children are so weak and stupid. Did you really think we didn't smell you from here?"

"Let him go!" she yelled. "Before Sun Wukong comes and kicks your butts!"

They both laughed.

"You know," the other one with purple horns said. "that monkey isn't that big of a deal. We're waaay stronger!"

"That's not true! You're lying!" her cheeks were getting red from anger. "The only one who was ever able to defeat him was Buddha himself!"

They laughed again.

"Oh you naive child." the red one shook his head. "Sun Wukong has indeed been defeated by our lord a long time ago."

"Shut up! You're lying again!"

"No we're not."

"Yes you are!"

"I'm getting hungry can we eat them now?" the purple one asked, his mouth salivating.

(Y/n) took a nearby pebbles and threw them at the demon's face, he was unfazed by this attack.

"Let Bao go!" she kept throwing rocks. "Let, him, go!"

"This is getting annoying." 

"Well now you know what it's like to deal with you." his colleague said as he brought a struggling Bao closer to his face and opened his mouth.

"No!!!" (Y/n) shouted, extending her arm.

Suddenly, a bubble of blue light formed around the boy. Though it disappeared within seconds, the demon hissed in pain, feeling his hand burn, and dropped him. Bao didn't waste time and ran up to his friend.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don't know!" she said.

"It can't be..." the demon mumbled, holding onto his painful wrist. "Your eyes aren't even cyan."

"Huh?" she frowned in confusion.

"Brother," the other one pointed at her, whispering harshly. "are you seriously implying that this female human child is *the* Golden Cicada?"

"I'm not sure." he whispered back and paused. "We have to bring her to our lord and figure this out."

With his other arm, he reached for her at an incredible speed. She shielded herself and praised for impact, but nothing came.

"Master!" she heard Bao exclaimed.

She looked up to see the old monk, standing in front of her, his necklace in his hand and conjuring a barrier. Shaking slightly, he looked back.

"Run! Now!"

(Y/n) stood there motionless.

"Come on! Let's go!" Bao grabbed her hand and dragged her out with him.

Because of the sudden pull, she dropped her doll.

"Sun Wukong!" she extended her arm as the two kids left the cave.

"Oh no, you're not getting away that easily!" the purple one took out a qiang (a chinese spear).

From the look of the weapon, anyone could tell it didn't belong to a demon. He probably stole it somewhere.

"No you idiot! It's far too powerful!" his brother exclaimed.

But it was too late, the horned demon swung it. He must've not be using it a lot, because it missed its target and landed on the cave's wall instead. The ground shook slightly.

"Oh-ho." he said.

Then the cave began to collapse.

"Master! Hurry!" the monk heard his disciple outside.

While the two demons started to argue, he took the opportunity to run. But he stopped and turned around towards the doll he made for (Y/n) when she was a baby. He went back to pick it up and ran towards the exit again. 

"Hurry!"

As more and bigger rocks came down, the two demons were eventually knocked out and the monk made one last jump forward before the cave was completely sealed.

"Okay that was a bad idea." the demon responsible for this, on all fours to create a tiny bit of space with the rumbles crushing his back, took off his earring which then turned into a golden snake. "Tell our lord we found the Golden Cicada quick." 

With that, the little snake left the cave through the cracks, unnoticed. Once it delivers its message it will turn back into an earring until the next message.

"Wait." the demon said to himself. "I forgot to say where. Dammi-"

And with that, his last bit of energy was gone and he let the cave crush him.

The two children protected their eyes from the cloud of dust. (Y/n) looked up and ran towards the cave, now just one big pile of rocks while Bao watched, paralyzed by shock.

"Master!" she cried.

His upper body was peaking out, lying on his stomach, beneath the rumbles. She tried to push them away, but to no avail, using all her strength made her feet slip and she kneeled in front of him.

"Master...?"

The old man twitched. Without looking up, he lifted his hand, holding both his necklace and the doll. She took it but still held onto his hand, tears growing in her eyes.

"I..." he said in a weak voice. "I'm sorry I never got to call you my daughter before. This stupid old man couldn't swallow his pride."

"Mas..." she sniffed and squeezed his hand, her tears now flowing down her face. "Dad!"

He chuckled faintly. Suddenly his hand went limp, it almost slipped away but (Y/n) held it with both her shaky hands, sobbing.

"Dad!!!"


	2. And the years passed...

"(Y/n)?" Bao, now ten years older, knocked on her bedroom door.

Not hearing anything, he opened the door and hesitantly looked inside. Rays of sunlight were peeking through the bamboo curtains, the young woman has just sat up on her bed and was still only half awake. Bao smiled and stepped inside.

"You're usually a morning person. What happened?"

She groaned and rubbed her eye.

"I was too excited last night," she mumbled. "I couldn't sleep."

He opened the curtains. The sudden change of brightness made her yelp and fall back on the bed, covering her eyes.

"Why must you, my old friend of many years, make me suffer so~?" she asked. "And on your last day here with us nonetheless."

He chuckled.

"It's because it's my last day here in the monastery that I intend on enjoying your company as much as I can."

She smiled as he began to walk towards the door.

"We'll be waiting for you in the courtyard."

"Alright~." she waved.

She waited for him to close the door behind him to stand up, change and give a small prayer to the little shrine in honor of her father. On it was incense, his necklace which she would sometimes wear for good luck, and the old monkey doll he made for her.

After what happened ten years ago, her three friends decided to become soldiers. They worked very hard everyday, becoming skillful fighters, and today was the day where they could leave the village to join the king's army and get formal training. 

During those years, the boys would come visit the monastery everyday, it was still like a second home to them.

(Y/n) never went past the village again, and she was fine with it. At least that's what she told herself, but everyone could see the longing look on her face when she's admire the landscape.

Shen waved at her once she walked in the courtyard. Wu-peng and Bao turned around to face her and Wu-peng ran up to her, wrapping her in his arms.

"(Y/n)! How I'll miss you!" he whined like the protecting big brother figure he is.

"You're not gone yet." she giggled.

"Come on big guy," Shen separated them. "let her breathe."

"But we have so little time~!"

"We have until sunset, that's plenty of time!"

"And speaking of having plenty of time:" she said. "I have a bunch of errands to run today, so why not spend it by helping me out?"

"Errands?" Shen lifted an eyebrow. "Can't you take the day off?"

"It's not a job per se, I can't 'take a day off'." she shrugged.

He sighed.

"I thought our last day before joining the army was supposed to be fun."

"No she's right!" Wu-peng excitedly exclaimed. "Going around the village will be a great way to say goodbye to everyone! Come on!"

Although she was the kinda-daughter of the late high monk of the monastery, (Y/n) being a woman she couldn't take his place. (Which now her friends found outrageous but she herself didn't mind that much.) So to be helpful, she became the little helper of the village. And beside, it didn't stop her from cultivating her chi in secret, thanks to that she got the hang of a few basic exorcist sutras (in those times too she'd wear the necklace). She became a real handyman and it showed by the list of what she had to do for the day:

Go grocery shopping; Repair broken wicker baskets; Pick up medicine; Babysit the fisherman's twin sons while taking care of their sick mother; Paint the remaining pots because the pottery master broke his wrist; Change the incense in the many temples of the monastery; Assist the florist while she renovates her shop; Fix the roof of the school; Have weekly tea party with the village's grandmas.

The three boys were expecting some draining work, but this was turning out to be quite fun, especially when doing it with friends. And really it showed them that their was ways to help a community other than protecting them from demons.

"And even then! We're a tiny isolated village," Shen said after sipping his tea. "no demon ever comes by."

"Oh but it's the intention that counts deary." one of the grandmas patted him on the arm. 

"I'm sure they'll be plenty of them to slay where you boys are going." another grandma smiled.

"I see this as a good thing that we don't have any demons." (Y/n) said, picking up a biscuit. "Who knows what hell we'd be in right now if my master hasn't stopped those two, years ago."

As she took a bite, Bao looked down. After that, he didn't spoke much but it wasn't that out of the ordinary, so the friendly gossip continued.

"(Y/n) dear, you're all grown up now, when are you going to find a good husband."

His heart skipped a beat and he instinctively glanced at her. She chuckled.

"I'm not ready to move out of the monastery yet."

"Oh my lord," Shen leaned back with a big smile. "remember when she had the biggest crush on the Monkey King?!"

"Oh, please no." she hid her face, blushing slightly. "This is embarrassing."

"Haha! I do!" Wu-peng laughed along with the grandmas.

"She would always praise him whenever she talked about him." one of them said. "She would re-tell the stories she heard."

"That was years ago!" she exclaimed, still smiling at the childhood memories. "I've grown up now!"

"You sure have dear." the grandma next to her pinched her cheek.

"Oh man!" Shen slapped his own forehead on their way back to the monastery after finishing all of (Y/n)'s errands. "Wu-peng, we completely forgot that one thing we need before leaving!"

"What thing?"

"You know," he leaned closer to him, speaking through his teeth. "the very important thing that is so important we must go get it right, now?"

He gestured towards (Y/n) and Bao with a brief nod. Wu-peng glanced at them and his eyes widen as he nodded.

"Right~ the thing!" he turned towards them. "Well, we gotta go."

"What thing? We can go with you-"

"Nonsense, nonsense!" the two boys cut her off as they gently pushed her away. "You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up with you!" 

And with that, they ran away.

"What's their deal?" 

"I-Beats me." Bao shrugged, suddenly bashful. "Come on."

The walk back was quiet, but (Y/n) didn't mind it with Bao. She looked up and saw that the sun has touched the top of the mountain, meaning it'll be dark soon.

"It's the last time we walk together." she said before quickly adding. "Not to bring bad luck or anything! It just that we won't see each-other for a while."

"Don't worry." Bao smiled. "I'll train as hard as I can so that I'll be back as soon as possible. And when I do, I'll protect you and the village for as long as I live." 

She smiled.

"You've changed a lot Bao, you know that?"

"Ha-Have I?" he scratched his cheek.

They've now reached the monastery and stopped in the center of the courtyard, now devoid of people.

"Ten years ago, you were a shy little boy. But look at you now." she faced him and gave him a friendly hit on the arm. "You've blossomed into a brave young man soon-to-be soldier in the king's army."

"You've changed too."

"I sure hope so!" she laughed. "And I'm sure you're destined for great things. Remember that time when you were saved by a mysterious force?"

"We still don't know what it was-"

"I'm telling you! It was a divine intervention, Heaven knows your future dude!"

He smiled, but it soon faded as his expression became more serious.

"(Y/n)..." 

She tilted her head. They looked at each-others for a moment as Bao struggled to speak. He opened his mouth but closed it right after.

"When I come back," he finally said. "I'll have something very important to tell you. So wait for me, because I'll most definitely come back."

"I know you will." she smiled. 

The four childhood friends hugged tightly, promising each-other to exchange letter once the boys get to their training camp, before they joined the official that'll guide them to the king's palace. The whole village wished them safe travel and even their "manly spirits" shed a few tears in this departure.

"So did you tell her?" Wu-peng asked soon after.

Bao looked down and shook his head, his two best friends sighed.

"Come on man!" Shen frowned. "You've been head over heels for her since ever!"

"I wanted to, I really did." he said. "But as I looked at her... I felt the guilt if what happen to our old master."

"We all told you, what happened wasn't your-"

"It was!" he said in a sudden burst of feelings, which shut Wu-peng up. "And that's why, only when I become a better man and atone for my sin, only then will I confess to her. She deserves this much."

"Oh Bao..." Shen placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're the best man she could ever have."

Bao smiled, glad he wasn't alone for this journey.

It's only been a few days since her best friends left and (Y/n) already missed them greatly. 

"I guess that's what you get for hanging out with the same people everyday." she sighed.

"Don't worry (Y/n) dear." the old woman said as she held the laundry basket for her to pick up the clothes and spread them on the laundry rope to dry. "The boys said their journey to the training camp is a couple of weeks away, it's only a matter of time before you receive a letter from them."

"The village will sure be quiet without them."

"Well I did hear that the fisherman's twin sons are already quite the troublemakers."

They both chuckled.

"Yeah I figured as much when I babysitted them."

And with that followed another session of friendly gossip.

After a while, the two women heard some commotion at the entrance of the village and because she just emptied the laundry basket she went there to check it out. Some of the villagers were surrounded a young woman who looked in bad shape.

"What happened?" (Y/n) asked as she walked over to them.

"This young woman came from the forest and suddenly fainted." one of the man wrapped her arm around his shoulders to pick her up.

"I..." the woman said with a weak voice. "I must..."

"Don't waste your energy." (Y/n) softly said. "Let's get her some water and somewhere to lay down."

After setting her in one of the villagers' house's and give her food and water. The stranger seem to have recovered a bit of strength. Having someone from the outside world has already formed a little crowd in front of the house. After "shoo"ing them away, (Y/n) went back inside and sat in front of the woman.

"Thank you for your hospitality." she bowed her head. "I come here because I'm on a mission from the king."

"The king?!" the woman of the house exclaimed. "It must be of great importance then, what happened?"

"Demons and spirits are more ferocious than ever in this part of the Empire, so he asked me to fetch the most righteous monks to help exorcise evil spirits. I've been travelling throughout these land but none of the monks I've encountered were the right fit for the job."

"So the king sent you here, by yourself?" (Y/n) frowned slightly. "Are you some kind of special soldier? How did you survive out there?"

"I had an escort of course!" she quickly said. "But we've been ambushed and I barely escaped which is how I ended up here."

"So you ended in our village...by luck?"

"Not quite, I knew a village was in these parts, I just didn't know where. Finding this place has been a p-" she paused. "It's been a challenge for sure."

"I see." she stood up. "You're lucky, the high monks from our monastery are the most righteous people I know. I can go bring them here for you."

"Oh my, how kindhearted you are."

(Y/n) went to fetch the new high priest and his two most studious disciples, before leaving, she took her father's necklace with her. Just in case the demons followed the woman to the village.

When they walked towards the house, they saw that the woman was now standing in the doorway and walked out in a hurry once she saw them.

"Here they are." (Y/n) gestured towards the tree men.

They bowed. She looked closely at them for a long moment. Then she suddenly cried in rage.

"Not again!" she shouted, stomping her foot on the ground. "Will I have to comb all over China's most isolated and lost parts! It's been years! Where the hell is he?! That's it! I'm done playing!"

"What are you talking abo-?" 

(Y/n) suddenly gasped in horror when the woman turned into a wolf demon. The villagers screamed and fled.

"Where is the reincarnation of Golden Cicada?!" she shouted. "Bring him to me or I swear I will tear down this place brick by brick!"

"The Golden Cicada? The former disciple of Buddha?" the high priest asked, his legs shaking.

"Isn't that the monk Tripitaka?" (Y/n) frowned, hoping that, by getting the demon's attention, all of the villagers could hide in a safe spot.

"No you idiot! There's anothe-Wait." she leaned closer to her and (Y/n) felt the color drain from her face. "Why do you, a woman, have a japamala?"

She looked down at her necklace. It was then that an idea went through her mind. Though she was still confused about what was happening, she knew that this demon won't leave until she finds what she was looking for. She gulped and prepared herself to run as she looked back at the beast and forced a smiled.

"You got me, I'm the new Golden Cicada!" she pointed at herself.

"What?!" her eyes widen, but then she frowned. "No you're not! Your eyes aren't cyan, let alone blue!"

"Ha!" she mocked as she began to walk backwards. "You really think that with demons after me, I wouldn't learn out to hide my powers?!"

"(Y/n) no!" she heard one of the grandmas said.

"You're pretty naive for a demon!" she continued.

"Why you little-!"

She was about to punch her but her attack was stopped by the three monks, conjuring a large barrier.

"Run!" the high monk exclaimed.

"And now that my cover is blown, I'm out of this tiny village!"

"I will hunt you down if it's the last thing I do!" the wolf demon said through her teeth.

"Well then I hope you like running! Toodles!" (Y/n) shouted before running, hearing the villagers' voices calling out for her slowly fading in the distance.

She ran as fast as her legs could go, as she ran past the hill, she took one last look at her only home before looking ahead and entering the forest.

"(Y/n) wait!" 

She looked back to see one of the monks running after her.

"Don't try to stop me!" she said. "And stop following me, you'll just get yourself killed!"

"I'm not trying to stop you!" he caught up to her. "Here!" he handed her a bag. "We saw what happened from the top of the hill, it's the bear necessities, it will nourish you for at least a couple of weeks! Be careful!"

She felt her heart squeeze and with teary eyes, she took the bag and put in on.

"Thank you!"

The monk nodded and then went back to the village. And (Y/n) kept running...

After a while, her legs couldn't take any more physical effort and almost gave up on her when she decided to stop by a clearing and sat beside a river to splash some water on her face. Although this part of the forest seemed demon-less, being in the forest in the first place brought back some painful memories, and the worry of wondering what was happening back in the village didn't help either. 

She took out a bit of bread and took this opportunity to check the bag's content. There was food, some money, a few belongings like a straw hat, her favorite comb, a blanket and...

She froze and slowly took out her old monkey doll. She felt her heart ache but she was too tired to cry, so with a pained expression, she instead crawled up into a ball, holding the plush close to her chest. And she stayed like this for a while, with only the silence of the forest around her.

It was the first time in her life that she was alone. And she didn't like it one bit.

But, she knew it was necessary, so when she felt her strength recovered she went on. 

Her journey of non-stop moving has been going on for about a week now. She became more accustomed to being by herself, that didn't stop her from thanking the Heavens out loud when she reached a small town. Oh how she missed civilization! With the money she had, she restocked her rations and she negotiated a prize at the local inn to spent a night there at a cheaper prize.

Sleeping in a real bed and have a decent warm meal has never felt better. She slept like a baby that night.

Unfortunately, she left the next day. She didn't want the horned demon to attack them just because of her.

After another few days, she reached the rocky mountains, nothing but rocks for miles. She took a deep breath before continuing on, praising herself for a good amount of hiking.

As she took a break, she pondered over what the wolf demon said.

"The Golden Cicada..." she thought to herself as she ate her meal. "I don't know how old is story of the Journey to the West, maybe there's been other reincarnations in the meantime." she frowned. "But how? Tripitaka should've received buddhahood after his journey, making him immortal. Did something happen...?"

She thought back to ten years ago. What she always thought was divine intervention, could it be...?

"Nah~." she smiled and shook her head. "Geez, my childhood fantasies are kicking in. Like the demon said, my eyes aren't cyan, and I can't even be a monk I'm a girl." she sighed and continued to eat.

She was in the middle of packing her things when she heard distant ruffling. She turned her head towards the sound, motionless. Everything was quiet for a moment and she could hear her heart pounding inside her chest.

Suddenly, something jumped out with a roar. (Y/n) instantly recognized the demon's fur and ran away, grabbing her bag.

"I knew it was just a matter of time if I just tracked your smell!" the beast exclaimed, chasing her. "Unlike us demons, your kind is so easily exhausted! You are still a human after all!" she laughed.

(Y/n) didn't dare to look back and ignored the demon's taunts. She only focused on what was ahead: the rocky, uneven and seemingly endless paths with many obstacles. She almost tripped over a few times. The adrenaline going through her veins made her forget all about her lack of athletic prowess. And with each step she took, she could hear the demon getting two steps closer.

She felt her heart drop when she saw that the path again was coming to a dead end. But then she looked up and had an idea. Once she was close enough, she jumped and started to climb the mountain as fast and as high as she could. It was way harder than the building she was so used to, but she managed.

"What?!" the wolf demon exclaimed, shocked by her sudden speed.

She climbed after her, but she had more difficulties, wolves weren't climbing masters, and slowly but surely, the distance between them increased.

"Think you'll get away from me again?!" she exclaimed. "You're completely out of breath! I give you less than five minutes before you pass out from exhaustion, and I will catch your fallen remains!"

(Y/n) knew she was right, but kept going none less. Then, a little up ahead, she saw a large crack, probably large enough for her to fit. And when she got up to take a look inside, she discovered that it was going further into the mountain. It was a cave. And she did not waste any time trying to squeeze her way inside. Her movements were getting clumsy as she heard the wolf demon getting closer and closer. Just as she finally entered the cave, the demon's arm reached inside to try and grab her, thankfully (Y/n) scooted away just in time. 

"I'll get you!" she heard her say. "I'll tear this mountain down just you wait!"

Panting, (Y/n) stood up and walked deeper into the cave. 

She left a hand near the wall and walked alongside it in total darkness so that she doesn't get lost. As she walk for what felt like a long time, she could feel the ground going in a downward slope. After a while, she noticed a faint blue light in the distance, she walked up to it to see that it was emanating from strange blue crystals, growing from inside the cave's walls, and she noticed that there were more of them ahead.

She went deeper and deeper down the mountain, she even wondered if she was now underground. There were more and more crystals, so much at some point that she didn't need to hold on to the wall anymore and could clearly see.

Suddenly, the narrow path turned vaster and the roof became higher, as if she just entered a room. A little waterfall could be heard, fireflies gently flew by, and at the very center of the room was one giant blue crystal, stretching up for a dozen of meters but just almost touching the ceiling of the cave, also glowing in a gentle blue light. (Y/n) took a moment to admire this magical scenery before walking in, still looking around in awe.

She placed a hand on the crystal, it wasn't cold, it wasn't hot either. It was as if it was untouched by the rules of this world.

Then she noticed something that made her frowned and she took a closer look. In the bright blue, there was a dark motionless mass.

'Is something...or someone, *inside* the crystal?'

She opened her mouth but just then she heard the loud sound of crumbling rocks followed by a roar.

She yelped and looked back. Her hand was still on the crystal so she didn't notice it glowing under her touch. She turned back around when she heard it crack. She stepped back and glanced at her hand before looking back at the crystal. The cracks were now quickly going up, and once it reached the top, the dark figure inside moved slightly, and the crystal began to shatter into pieces and fall on the floor, creating a cloud of dust that was now floating through the air as a considerate amount of brightness dropped.

(Y/n) didn't have time to think about what trouble she could be in and hid when she heard the wolf demon roar once again.

"I cannot believe that I didn't notice sooner." she saw the wolf demon enter the room. "Why *this* mountain out of all-." she stopped and stared ahead with big eyes.

Seemed like she noticed something, but (Y/n) couldn't see it given that she didn't have special demon eyes. The demon looked shocked though.

"You." she said as she walked closer to the center of the room. "I see what's going on."

Now that the path was clear, (Y/n) carefully went for the exit. She figured someone has been broken free from this magic crystal-prison and whoever it was, they were the perfect distraction.

"But don't get ahead of yourself." the demon continued. "I know you're still weak from all those years of imprisonment, so I'll just take immense satisfaction in-" suddenly she screamed.

Standing on the kinda-doorway, (Y/n) froze and turned around. With the bit of brightness that was left, she could see the dark figure kicking the wolf demon in the chest, making her fall back. Then they grabbed her by the ankles and spun around before releasing her. She flew in the air before crashing through the cave's wall, creating a big hole into the mountain itself. Turned out they were right at the bottom of it. 

The sudden sunlight forced (Y/n) to close her eyes for a brief moment. When she reopened them again, she watched as the dust slowly dissipated, revealing the former prisoner. He was standing in front of the new exit, his back facing her. And though it was the first time she saw him, she recognized him right away. She gasped.

He looked back and turned to face her. She looked into his slightly glowing red eyes and forgot to breathe for a moment. Wearing old raggedy clothes, contrasting the golden crown formed like a ring around his head, was a tall monkey creature, standing like a man.


	3. You make do with what you have

"Uh-"

(Y/n) was about to say something incoherent when the monkey raised his hand, stopping her. He turned back and walked towards the passed out wolf demon. He kneeled and grabbed her head. (Y/n) flinched when she heard a single crack, her face became paler as she realized that she just witnessed a murder. But hey, better be a demon than herself.

Just then, she noticed a golden snake going passed her. She remembered the stories telling that they were artifacts made to be like messengers, the wolf demon must've summoned it before the monkey killed her. (Y/n) caught it but it easily slipped away from her grasp and suddenly picked up the pace, out of sight in a matter of seconds. She cursed to herself, who knows where it was going and what message was it sending, nothing good that was for sure.

"You're the one who got me out?" 

She turned around, the monkey was now standing in front of her, frowning slightly.

"I-I think so? Maybe?" she said, not even sure herself.

He looked at her up and down, he opened his mouth but then shook his head and walked out of the mountain. (Y/n) stood there in shock before going after him.

"W-w-wait, wait!" she clumsily walked through the crystal shards of various sizes before exited the mountain as well. "Wait!"

"What?" he sternly asked as he faced her, clearly annoyed.

She hesitated, still baffled by the situation, but eventually spoke.

"A-are you...Sun Wukong? As in, the Monkey King Sun Wukong? As in the Great Sage equaling Heaven Sun Wukong? Sun Wukong the quintuple immortal? The one who-"

"Yes. I know, I'm amazing. Get to the point."

"Wha-what are you doing here?! Aren't you supposed to be a Bodhisattva with Tripitaka? Or back on Flower Fruit Mountain after your journey to the west?"

"Ha! Is that what the stories tell people nowadays? Telling lies and now they just invent endings?" he kept walking. "Sorry girl, welcome to the real world. Don't believe everything stories tell you."

She frowned and followed him.

"But you still have your crown stuck on your head, so there is at least some truth to the story. What were you doing stuck under a mountain? What happened? Where's Tripitaka and the others?"

"Oh for the love of-!" he suddenly turned around, stopping her. "They're gone! Okay?! Now will you shut up with the interrogation?! I literally just got out for the time in god knows how many years!"

"...Sorry." seeing the anger in his eyes, she decided to stop the questions, even though she really wanted him to develop. 

He huffed and kept walking, with her not far behind. She looked down and held her chin.

"Why are you following me?" he asked.

"I'm thinking."

"That doesn't answer my question, stop following me!" he stopped again.

(Y/n) was silent for a moment before looking at him with a serious expression.

"I've decided."

"Huh?" he frowned, wondering what the hell this girl was going on about.

"I'm going to see the goddess Bodhisattva Guan Yin."

"Guan Yin? Why?"

"Because demons are after the new reincarnation of the Golden Cicada. Also it might maybe probably not but who knows be me." she quickly mumbled that last sentence.

He lifted an eyebrow.

"I-Listen! I got you out of that crystal didn't I?! But whatever, even if I wasn't, something is going on and I'm going to ask her for help." 

"Uh-hu." he sighed. "Well good luck with that."

"What? No, you're coming with me!"

"What."

"I don't know where her island is, and there's no way I'm surviving on my own. I was lucky enough to travel in an area free of demons, but I know that won't last forever. Not after that last one sent a snake messenger probably to tell her boss where to find me, because I made her think I was the Golden Cicada-It's a long story."

"I'm sure it is, and I don't wanna hear it. Ask someone else."

"No. Because as far as I'm concerned, you are the only one who can help me right now."

"Well sorry to break it to you, but I'm done being someone's bodyguard. Toodles." with a flick of the wrist, he started to run.

"No! Don't go! Hey!" she ran after him, but of course, she was no match for him. "Stop!"

Suddenly, he fell over, grabbing his head and wriggling around in pain for a few moments. During which she caught up to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked in a panic, leaning over him.

Finally the pain stopped. Panting, he sat up and shook his head to regain his composure. His touched his crown.

'Even from beyond you bother me...' he thought.

"Did...Did I do that?" (Y/n) whispered to herself before clearing her throat. "Please, will you be my escort?"

He groaned. 

"So you wanna get to Guan Yin's island." he stood up and folded his arms. "How do you plan on doing that exactly? 'Cause it's pretty much on the other side of China."

"What do you mean? Can't you just summon your somersault cloud? With it, we'll be there before sunset."

"First of all, only the divine can get on that cloud, you would just fall through. Second," he paused. "I can't."

"Why?"

"Because those damn demons engraved a seal on my back, preventing me from using any of my powers!"

Upon hearing this, (Y/n) was more impressed than anything.

'Even without powers he managed to kill a wolf demon?! I guess he naturally has superhuman strength." 

"You know." she said. "Maybe I could...take a look at it? I've been living in a monastery my whole life, I've picked up on a few things."

"You?" he raised an eyebrow.

She jiggled her necklace.

"It's worth a shot."

He thought for a moment before taking off the top half of his tunic. Now shirtless, he then turned around and sat on the ground cross-legged. (Y/n) kneeled down and her eyes widen. The seal was spreading all over his back and even on the back of his neck and shoulders. Since it was engraved, the monkey's fur didn't cover it and (Y/n) couldn't help but trace down one of the bright red lines with her fingertip. (Meanwhile, he wondered if that was part of the process.) The seal was circular with about a dozen circles, each of them with a different design. 

'One for each power probably.' she thought.

She took off her necklace, holding it in one hand and placing the other of the center of the seal where the character for 'suppress' was written. She closed her eyes and recited one of the sutras she learned. The palm of her hand glowed a gentle blue. After a while, she felt her energy being drained drastically and stopped, removing her hand. The monkey glanced back at her, she shook her head, panting slightly.

"It's, *way* too powerful."

He sighed, looking almost disappointed.

"What did I expect?" he mumbled as he stood up and put his tunic back on.

"But hey," she stood up as well. "I'm sure Guan Yin could remove it like it's nothing! So you see our interests kinda align here." she gestured back and forth between him and herself. "And even if you say no, I'll just do the crown thing until you say yes anyway."

'Even though I have no idea how I did it.'

He glared at her and she had to force herself not to look down.

"Fine." he said through his pointy teeth.

"Don't worry, it's not like I enjoy the idea of travelling through China accompanied by a monkey with a bad attitude."

"Oh yeah, 'cause I am *thrilled* of the idea of spending months with a naive bossy girl who probably never left the house her entire life."

"I-Whatever! Let's just go!" she walked passed him.

He watched her go for a moment.

"It's that way." he pointed at another direction with his thumb.

He couldn't help but smirk when she stopped and stomped towards the right direction this time. He cackled when he saw her red cheeks as she went passed him again.

"Monkey, come on let's go."

"Monkey? I have a name!" he walked alongside her.

She looked at him with narrowed eyes and raised eyebrows.

"Sorry, but you don't look, sound, or act like *the* Sun Wukong. So until then, I'll just call you Monkey." she shrugged.

He clicked his tongue.

"Whatever you say you hero wannabe."

"Wha-hey, screw you!"

"What? Too close too soon?" he smirked.

She sent daggers at him.

"You know what? How about we walk at a certain distance?"

"Fine by me." he slightly picked up the pace.

"Nonono, I go first."

"Man, you have such an ego."

"It's nothing like that! What if a demon grabs me all sneaky-like? You wouldn't notice if I was behind you." she hurried up to be in front of him.

He sighed.

They haven't left the mountains yet. (Y/n) kept glancing around, all tense and nervous, and it was beginning to piss off Monkey.

"Stop being paranoid!" he finally said. "You're stressing *me* out!"

"I can't help it, I got demons after me!"

"You had *one* demon after you, and I killed her in seconds. So chill won't you?" 

She finally faced forward.

"Still, what do we do when we encounter more powerful monsters?"

"We?"

"I just figured that, since you don't have your powers anymo-."

"That doesn't mean anything." he said with a grave voice. "I don't need powers to kick ass."

'Sheesh okay.' she thought, rolling her eyes.

Finally having some peace, Monkey sighed and looked up at the sky as they kept walking.

(Y/n) noticed something from the corner of her eyes and took a closer look at it.

"Uh...Monkey?"

"What is it again?" he looked at her.

"Can monsters and spirits take the form of a rock?"

"Land gods sometimes do to spy on people, why?"

She pointed at something on the side of the road, Monkey followed her gaze and became confused himself. A rock half as big as him was rolling past them. They both stopped in their tracks and watched it go, and as they did, they noticed more rolling stones going in the same direction.

"Okay this, this is weird." he finally said before they followed them.

They didn't have to go far thankfully. Only meters away, the rocks piled on top of each-other and soon took the form of a four-meters-tall stone titan.

"Oh boy." (Y/n) said in a little voice.

"Sun Wukong." it spoke. "I am the guardian created to make sure you never leave these mountains. Prepare to die."

"Oh please." Monkey waved his hand. "You can't kill me and you know it, you pebble pile."

"I know that, but you can't kill me either."

"Oh~hoho! You shouldn't have said that!" he smiled widely. "Now it's a challenge!"

He ran up to the titan, jumped up to its head and smashed the stone into pieces. Its body stood there and soon fell on its rocky knees. Monkey cackled and smacked his hands together.

"And~ done. Now let's get out of-GUH!" a rock suddenly smacked him behind the head, reuniting itself with the titan's body.

"See what I mean?" it asked when its head was formed again. "We will fight until my lord and his army come and get you. And you, Golden Cicada." it looked at (Y/n). "I saw everything, the golden snake as been sent and soon enough it will reach my lord. So I won't come after you, you can even go now if you want. Doesn't matter since you're not part of my mission and it's only a matter of time befor-" suddenly, Monkey kicked its leg off.

"If that's the case I'll just break you over and over until you turn to dust!" Monkey exclaimed, jumping lightly in a fighting stand.

"Oh but you're forgetting something Monkey King: we're in the mountains, in my element! I can regenerate anytime and as much as I need!"

The titan swung a fist at him, Monkey easily blocked it but suddenly the fist changed into an open hand and grabbed him. Monkey broke free and tried a different attack, but it was useless again. The two opponents just went back and forth with no clear winner. But just as the titan said, what mattered was gaining time, or wasting time depending on who you asked, before the demon army shows up.

'Is there nothing to stop that thing?' (Y/n) thought as she watched. 'Is there nothing I can-?!'

"Huh?" she was about to continue with the self-pity but then her eyes widen.

In a moment where the two fighters were pushing each-other, trying to make the other fall, the titan had its back facing her, in the middle was a piece of paper.

'A seal! Must be what's keeping it together!'

She moved to the side and swung her arms, catching Monkey's attention.

"Hold him off." she mouthed, articulating to make sure he gets the message.

He frowned but quickly focused back on his fight. She ran and jumped on the back of the titan's leg. It flinched and started to rotated its head but Monkey took the opportunity to headbutt it.

"Hey pebble pile! I'm right here!" he shouted.

The titan groaned and picked him up, Monkey struggled and was about to broke free like last time but then the monster started to shake. Soon enough, it fell apart, now returning to its normal rock state. Monkey easily landed on his feet, unlike (Y/n) who fell over with a yelp.

Rubbing her back, she stood up and ripped the seal to pieces. She looked at Monkey as he walked towards her.

"See how easier it is when we combine forces and work together?" she asked.

"I will admit," he nonchalantly shrugged as he walked past her. "It would have taken me longer if I was alone."

She smiled, just then, her stomach loudly rumbled. They looked at each-other.

"Um..." she placed a hand on it. "You mind if we take a break before moving on? All this climbing and life threatening stuff made me hungry."

"Sure." he smiled. "Haven't had a meal in decades."

Monkey set up some of the titans remains so they'd have a table to place their food on and chairs to sit on. (Y/n) proposed to share but he declined.

"I can tell you don't even have a lot for yourself. I'll just pick up some fruits from those trees there."

'Man, he can be considerate when he wants to.' she thought.

"By the way," she asked as they started to dig in. "you said you were in there for decades. Do you remember how many years exactly?"

"Mmh." he suck on his fingertips were a bit of peach juice were. "No idea, I stop counting after a while. What years is it anyway?"

"XXX."

"Damn okay!" his eyes widen. "Time really flies by when you're immortal. Hey, you got some salt?"

"For peaches?" she sent him a weird look.

"Yeah, everything tastes better with salt."

"...sure." she went back to her food. "Check in my bag it should be in there."

'I bet the monastery chef put it there, that dork.' she smiled as Monkey picked up the bag on the side of the table.

"Ah-." she heard him say.

She looked up and frozen in horror. Monkey was staring at her old monkey doll he was holding in his hand, he slowly turned his head to look at her, both of them with big eyes. (Y/n)'s face turned as red as a tomato. Then Monkey burst out laughing.

"You..." he tried to say between two loud 'ha's. "You were a fan?!?!?!" he pointed at her, holding his stomach.

"Not anymore that's for sure!!!" she yelled.

"That makes so much sense!" he ignored her and kept laughing. 

"Shut up! I didn't keep it because it's you!" she snatched the doll away and gently put it away. "Someone very dear to me made it when I was a kid."

"Oh man!" he sighed, wiping his teary eyes. "Sure, keep digging yourself into a hole."

"It's true!"

"Sure~." he smirked before going back to his food.

(Y/n) huffed. 

She didn't know how this journey will go with him, she really hoped they will eventually come to an understanding and be on good terms. Because right now, she just wanted to punch him in his stupid face with his stupid smirk.


	4. Didn’t expect to have fun did ya?

As the duo was finally leaving the mountains and entering the bright green meadows, Monkey was grabbing various long sticks to try and use them as a staff. Since his own has been stolen by the demons who trapped him in the mountain, he was being very dramatic when he searched for it at first, even calling out to it like it'd respond. 

"I didn't know you could be such a drama queen." (Y/n) said, waiting for him with her hands on her hips.

"You don't know my pain" he pointed at her. "Those bastards! Stealing from *me*! They will pay!"

The woman sighed, he reminded her of that one time she lost her doll and searched the entire monastery and village for it. She was seven.

And so after whining a bit and projecting his frustration on the poor trees nearby, Monkey gave up and has been trying to find alternatives ever since. He'd try a few techniques but they'd always end up flying out of his grasp.

"What's wrong? Did you forget how to fight or something?" (Y/n) asked at some point.

"'Course not." he sighed, dropping his latest one. "They're just *way* too light for me, so it's very hard to use them as weapons." he sighed. "I miss my Gold-Banded Cubgel! It was the ultimate staff! My one and only, my weapon soulmate!" he looked up at the sky with his fists close to his face.

"Geez why don't you marry it?" (Y/n) sent him a weird look.

"Well I bet that if it was a girl, she'd at least be pleasant!"

They glared at each-other before looking ahead again.

"If I remember correctly," she said. "your Gold-Banded Cubgel can expand and shrink at your will only?"

"Yep." he nodded.

"So does it have a mind of its own?"

"I don't think so, at least not to the point where it's sentient. More like it was made for me I believe."

(Y/n) puffed a chuckle.

"Who's got an ego now?"

"Still not me, 'cause when it served as one of the four pillars supporting the ocean, it would start glowing once every thousands of years. And when I busted in the king dragon's place, looking for a weapon, just then did it start glowing. And after I tried the entire royal weapon gallery, the dragons thought 'maybe that has something to do with him'. So the king let me check it out, I took it and it shrunk as a staff at my will. So I do believe it was made for me, since I'm also the only one who can lift it."

"It also chooses who lifts it?"

"Nah, it's just really heavy, like 8 tons."

She thought for a moment.

"How did the demons do to steal it then?"

"Glad you ask! I have a theory!" he pointed at her, suddenly very invested in the conversation. "The whole demon army tied ropes around it and pulled it with them to wherever it is now. And as the years passed, the trail it left became a path in the mountains, meadows and forests."

After he said that, (Y/n) looked down at the narrow path they were taking through the meadow. Monkey noticed.

"Don't worry, that is just a happy coincidence." he smiled.

"You're taking me to your staff aren't you?" she bluntly asked, looking at him with a neutral expression.

"I mean, it would be cool if I had it." he mumbled.

She frowned.

"Guan Yin's island really is that way." he explained. "If I had my staff, fighting would be a million times easier and so we'd get there faster. Like you said: our interests aligned here." he grinned mischievously.

She just hummed and walked ahead of him. Monkey started to whistle, thinking this was another win for his team.

They followed the path for a while but then it suddenly stopped nearby a cliff.

"Huh." Monkey said with folded arms.

"Do you think they flew away?" (Y/n) looked up.

"They could have. But it's more probable that..." he walked over to the edge and looked down. "It fell."

She stood beside him and looked down. There was a town at the bottom.

"So that's where it is! Come on let's get down there!"

Monkey took a few steps back and made a run for it, but as soon as his feet left the ground, she grabbed him by the collar and used all her weight to pull him back, making them both fall on the ground.

"Not like that!" she exclaimed. "We take the long way down!"

Monkey groaned like a child who's been grounded. Nevertheless he still lead her to the town without taking the cool way there which bummed him out a bit.

"Come on now, don't sulk. You're about to get your staff back!" 

"We don't even know if it's there! Maybe they dropped it because it was a quicker way to get it down there. Because obviously going around the hill and descending the cliff would be a complete waste of time." he glared at her.

"Well, not everybody can survive that fall Monkey! I'm sorry I didn't eat all peaches of immortality, drank all the wine of immortality and practiced an almost illegal technique that makes me immortal."

"I know you're saying this to try and get back at me, but all you're doing is giving me a boost of self-confidence." he smiled to himself, bumping his chest.

"Oh lord, like you need any more of it." she shook her head with a hand on her forehead.

"It's what makes my charm."

"It's what makes you annoying." she picked up the pace, mostly so that she could leave the conversation on that burn.

And Monkey knew that was why she did it.

"...shit." he harshly whispered. "I don't care! It's still two to one!"

"You keep scores?" she looked back at him.

"Only when I'm winning, and oh look at that!" he looked at the palm of his hand like it was written on it. "I'm winning!"

(Y/n) rolled her eyes and turned back.

"So childish too." she whispered, wondering if he really was Sun Wukong.

After a couple of hours, they finally reached the little town. It seemed like there was an event going on, there was music being played, stands of food and merchandise, and people were excited about "the contest" that was apparently starting today. But even with the joyful atmosphere, the duo got their fair share of glare by the passersby. Monkey was used to it, but (Y/n) contemplated the idea of taking off her japamala. But she shook her head.

Monkey was actually surprised, last time he was traveling, people would scream and run away. (Y/n) explained that, because of his stories of his adventures with his companions that began to be well-known, people became a bit less wary of demons, since not all of them will want to eat humans on sight. But they were still keeping themselves at a certain distance.

"Heh." Monkey smirked. "Glad to see people finally understanding awesomeness and perfection."

"...sure." she slightly shook her head. "As long as you don't loudly roar and rampage around, we'll be fine."

She asked a food stand owner what this "contest" was for.

"Why the annual contest to see who gets the poll house of course!"

"The poll house?" her and Monkey frowned in confusion.

"You see," the man leaned closer. "years ago, this poll fell down from the sky and got stuck in the ground, right in the middle of the backyard of that house." he pointed at it, it was the fanciest looking one of all. "Demons tried to get it out but they eventually gave up." Monkey burst out laughing, as he discovered that his theory was correct but not in the way he expected. "So now, this poll is a sign of good luck and every year, someone gets to live in the poll house. It was abandoned and all busted before, but now look at it!"

"What if someone gets to get it out of the ground?" (Y/n) asked as Monkey kept laughing. 

"Well, if such a thing is possible, then I suppose they'll get to keep it. But they'll have to win the contest first, the house is guarded like royalty these days." 

Monkey let out a long sigh, (Y/n) thanked the stand owner and bought a bag of sugar-coated peanuts before standing beside him

"Man I overestimated those demons like crazy." he said as he took some and ate them. "Well then, let's go get my staff."

"What? No!" she stood in front of him before he could walk away. "You heard the man, the house is guarded."

"Doesn't mean anything, it'll be a breath." he went around her.

"It'd be stealing." she stopped him again. "We are not doing anything illegal, not to humans. The only way to get your staff back-"

"Don't tell me we'll have to enter this contest."

"-is by entering this contest."

He groaned like a child again, his face towards the sky.

"It's such a waste of time~!"

"It will be if you keep complaining and we don't get a move on. Come on."

"Next!" the man in charge of inscription exclaimed.

"Yes, hello." (Y/n) stood in front of his desk and placed her hands on it, Monkey behind her. "We want to get in the contest so we can take the poll for ourselves."

"Heh, like you're the first one to try. Lucky for you there's a place left. Here, fill out this form." he handed her a piece of paper, but retracted it when Monkey stepped closer to grab it. "The monkey can't participate."

"Huh?!" they both exclaimed.

"And why's that?!" he asked, containing his anger.

"You're a demon, you have magic and powers, it'd be cheating. Humans only."

The duo looked at each-other, knowing that this was not playing to their advantage. (Y/n) took the form.

"Is there really no way for him to enter?" she asked in a little voice.

"...I suppose he can be your teammate for round 1."

"Round 1?"

"Yes, there's the qualifying round, where you can be in teams of two, and then there's the real contest."

"I see." she looked down at the paper. "I suppose it's fine then." she mumbled before looking up and smiled. "Thank you sir."

"Your welcome. It starts in a couple of hours so be sure to give me the form back by then."

"We can still go and steal the staff if you want." Monkey quietly said. "There's still time."

"No thank you." she said as she filled out the form. "We'll earn it fair and square."

Monkey looked around, noticing how bigger the others contestants were.

"You know there's no way for you to beat them right?" he asked.

"That's okay." she looked up at him. "You can wear them out during the qualifying round."

He sighed.

"I guess. Still think it'd be easier to just steal it."

"Come on~." she smiled as she went to hand the form back. "It'll be a breath."

"Welcome folks to this year's contest!" the host exclaimed as the crowd cheered. "Now the qualifying quizz show round is about to begin!"

(Y/n) and Monkey sat there astonished, neither of them were expecting that one. They, along with a dozen of other contestants, were sitting at a table on a stage facing the crowd with one cymbal in front of them fixed on it and the other at their disposition so they could hit them together if they find the answer.

"Now, as the rules say:" the host said. "the oldest contestant gets to choose the subject of the questions."

A very old man, the teammate of a beefy guy (who picked him just because he was old), slowly started to raise his hand but then Monkey suddenly stood up, his whole arm raised.

"Me!" he exclaimed.

"Mmmh." the host looked at him up and down. "You look like you're in your twenties."

"I am literally centuries older than all of you."

"He is a demon." (Y/n) added. "They're not immortal but they do live longer than humans."

The man sighed while the beefy guy on the other side of the stage huffed and folded his arms. Monkey sat back down and leaned back on his chair, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Alright then. You have: 'The Han Dynasty: golden age of Chinese history';" Monkey's smile faded as the duo felt themselves sweating. "'Cuisine: the different facets of spices'; 'The Monkey King: the myth, the legend';" their eyes widen. "'Guzhens, from choosing the wood to-'"

"The Monkey King!" the two of them exclaimed.

"Oh my, enthusiastic. I suppose you'd be at an advantage since he's part of your monkey-culture."

"No it's 'cause I am the Monkey King."

The host laughed.

"Monkey humor, I get it!" he said, making the crowd laugh. "Now. Question number one: how many transformations does the Monkey King have?"

(Y/n) hit the cymbals.

"Seventy-two."

"Good answer!"

"What? No it's not." Monkey frowned. "I can turn into anyone I want, that's one of my main strategy to sneak around."

"Ssssh, that's what the stories say." (Y/n) discreetly nudged him.

"Question number two: why did the Monkey King ate almost all the peaches of immortality?"

Monkey hit the cymbals.

"'Cause those damn fruits were asking for it!" he answered immediately.

"Incorrect!"

"What?!"

"It's because he loves peaches!" (Y/n) tried to save it, but the host shook his head.

"That's what I said!"

"No you didn't! Even if you did that's a horrible way to put it!"

"Question number three: what is the Monkey King's birthday?"

(Y/n) leaned back, thinking this one was in the bag. But Monkey stayed motionless. She frowned and before she could ask him what was wrong, the very old contestant hit his team's cymbals. He then recited a poem, something about the morning dew and moss growing on mountain rocks.

"That is correct!" the host pointed at him.

"What gives?" she nudged Monkey, whispering sharply. "You don't know your own birthday?!"

"Like I said, I'm centuries old." he whispered in a similar fashion as they glared at each-other. "You think I'd keep tabs on that stuff? Back on Flower fruit Mountain, we celebrate our birthday when we feel like it."

(Y/n) sighed.

"You're my fan, how come *you* don't know my birthday?!" he acted offended.

"You think my child brain cared about that?! I only cared for the cool adventures and action stuff!"

He clicked his tongue and narrowed his eyes.

"Understandable." he mumbled.

You can imagine how the rest of the quiz went. They got most of the simpler ones down but the rest of the time, either Monkey was too personally invested to answer properly, or the question were so damn specific that neither of them knew the answer. And before they knew it, the qualifying round was over. Thankfully they barely passed, but they did have the least points out of the remaining contestants.

(Y/n) had her forehead pressed onto the table, groaning.

"Well," Monkey said, trying not to laugh. "maybe if you're lucky they'll go easy on you."

"Now that the quiz is over, it is on to the contest!" the host said. "As the rules say: the person who came in last in the qualifying round gets to choose which category they want the contest to be."

"What?!" they both exclaimed as (Y/n) suddenly sat up, a red mark on her forehead.

"Here." he handed her a list. "Boy aren't you the lucky one! Choose one of these."

She read through the list, her eyebrows furrowed as she did. She could only imagine what hell she'll go through with each categories: Martial art; Marathon; Acrobatics; Cooking; Poem battle; Knife swallowing. Finally, her eyes widen.

"Climbing!" she exclaimed, pointing at the word.

The host took a moment to briefly look at her, wondering why she choose that one with her average figure.

"Very well!" he smiled and turned towards the audience. "Then I bid you farewell for the day while we take the necessary measures to install the climbing field. I will see you at the bottom of the cliff tomorrow!"

As the crowd cheered and began to leave, (Y/n) sighed. She was a bit relieved to at least compete in a familiar sport. Monkey on the other hand was looking at her like she's gone insane.

"You cannot be serious!" he said as the two of them explored the town since they didn't have anything else to do until tomorrow. "Climbing requires strength and balance. You gotta use all the muscles in your body. Why did you choose that one?!"

"To be perfectly honest, I'm not a hundred percent confident either." she casually said as she looked at the merchandise displayed on a stand. "I just saw something I knew how to do and I picked it. I never competed in climbing, but I'll do my best."

"You won't even get a foot off the ground with your frail body."

"Hey. I'm the best climber in my village."

"That's not saying much." he frowned. "You sure you don't wanna give up."

"What?" she looked at him.

"I said you sure you don't wanna give up?"

"Come again?" she leaned closer.

He frowned, getting worked up.

"I said-!"

"Mmh nope, sorry, I don't know those words." she shrugged. "Probably because they are not in my vocabulary."

He rolled his eyes.

After the day, they were given a discount at the inn, both to celebrate this annual event and for being a contestant, so it cost them almost nothing. While (Y/n) was peacefully sleeping, Monkey was staring out the window, most specifically at the poll house. He couldn't sleep when his dear staff was right next door, so close yet so far. He looked at her across the room and sighed through his nose. There was no way she'd win tomorrow, not when she was competing against actual athletes, and the fact that she refused to even try his method still ticked him off.

"Screw it." he stood up and opened the window. "I'm taking it anyway." he said before hopping out.

The next day, the crowd gathered at the bottom of the cliff just as instructed. (Y/n) and the other contestants were standing in front of the tall wall. While the others were stretching or flexing their muscles to please their fans, she was staring up at the wall and covering her hands with flour, which only resulted in her getting strange looks from people, Monkey included. 

He didn't change his mind of course, but he couldn't help but smile imagining the look on her face when she'll find out the staff was safely hidden in their inn room. He supposed he'll tell her when she'll start to get desperate.

"As the rules say:" the host said. "the one who won the qualifying round get an advantage." 

He gestured to the beefy guy from the other day, standing on top of a platform going up to three meters.

"The goal here," he continued. "is to climb up and get the flag, then bring it back down. If you fall on the mattress we installed, it's game over for you." he pointed at a red cloth hanging by a hook around twenty meters high off the ground, then at the giant mattress the contestants were standing on. "Contestants, on your marks!"

(Y/n) clapped her hands together, creating a little white cloud of smoke.

"Get set..."

She took a deep breath as she grabbed the rock and crouched.

"Go!"

She jumped and used her grip to add strength to her jump, she quickly expanded an arm so that she'd get the highest grip possible and pulled herself up. Within the first seconds, she was already two meters off the ground. 

Needless to say, the crowd was impressed, including Monkey, who was simply speechless. 

'Is she part monkey or something?!' he thought.

The contestant next to her was caught off guard and fell. Another couldn't get a hold of the rock and couldn't leave the ground. The one with the advantage was lucky to get a part of the wall that wasn't so steep. But while the others were struggling and stopping every time they'd gained a arm-length, (Y/n) kept going upwards. At this point, there was only her and the beefy guy left, and they were halfway through, neck and neck. The crowd was now split between these two. But Monkey hasn't payed attention to anyone but her since the beginning. 

At some point, she stopped.

"Why did she stop?" someone asked.

"I see," Monkey said, not looking away. "before starting, she was looking over the wall and figured out a proper way to go in advance. But now it seems like she's out of options."

(Y/n) frantically looked around. Then she looked up at a particular rock to her left that was standing out from the wall, but it was much more higher than the others.

"Don't." Monkey shook his head. "It's way out of your reach, don't."

She briefly glanced down at her feet and relaxed her arms. She let her body swing a couple of time to gain momentum. At this point, everyone was staring at her. Finally, she leapt up and completely let go of the wall. She managed to grab the rock with one hand, but as she set her foot, it slipped and she gasped, along with the whole crowd. But she kept the grip of her hand and so her body was dangling above nothing.

"How?!" Monkey exclaimed. "There was no way she could hang on with her whole body weight being-" and just as he said that, he answered his own question. "The flour!"

"Oh~ so that's why!" someone next to him said. "It must help having a stronger grip. Man, she knows her stuff!"

"And the way she climbs," someone else said. "it's almost as if she's flying!"

"Come on! You can do it!"

"Go for it!" Monkey joined on the hype.

(Y/n) positioned herself before climbing again without hesitation. The beefy guy passed her and gain a couple of meters, but she managed to catch up with him. Seeing that he grew closer to the cloth, she used all her energy on this last move. She grabbed the guy's shoulder to then use him as leverage for one final leap. And as she was in the air, she grabbed the cloth.

Monkey let out a big 'Oooooh!!!' as the crowd cheered.

'It's not over yet.' she thought as she took a hold on the wall. 'Now I have to get down.'

After wrapping the cloth around her wrist, she started to descend. The beefy man was baffled that he lost. His fist clenched.

"I won't allow such a tiny human to beat me!" he said as he turned into an ogre.

(Y/n) gasped as the crowd panicked and ran away. 

"A demon has infiltrated the contest!" the host exclaimed.

"If it's the staff you want, why don't you just steal it?!" (Y/n) asked as she frantically climbed down, the ogre after her.

"And let you win?! No way in hell!"

'This guy's driven by his competitive spirit!'

Sadly, going down was way harder than going up, and so (Y/n) was being a lot slower than before. But luckily, so was the ogre, though he was catching up to her. She reached the tall platform and climbed down the ladder.

"That doesn't count!" the demon exclaimed. "She's cheating on the last meters!"

"Well technically:" the host said. "the rule only says that you have to bring the cloth back to win. Anything is fair game on the way down. So she wins."

He roared.

"I will destroy you!"

(Y/n) finally reached the ground and was about to run away when Monkey went passed her and towards the demon. He jumped and swung his staff down, right on top of his skull. The ogre fell down, dead on the spot.

"Oh my baby~!" Monkey hugged his weapon, teary eyed. "How I missed you!"

"Monkey!" (Y/n) exclaimed as she went up to him. "You stole the staff?!"

"Last night yeah." he casually said as he began to rotate it around and do a few tricks with it.

"Wha-You had it this whole time?!"

"Yeah. I really didn't believe you were gonna win."

"Why didn't you say anything?!"

"For fun I guess," he quickly said, refusing to admit that he was actually impressed by her knack for climbing. "but look at you now!" he stopped. "Mmh, it doesn't change size. Maybe it doesn't recognize me without my powers."

(Y/n) was about to scold him on his lack of trust but then the town gathered around them and cheered, thanking them. They even offered them to live in the poll house forever. But of course they politely refused, so instead they were given a cash prize and some food before they went on their way.

"Wait a second!" (Y/n) suddenly looked at Monkey. "You can see through demons' disguises right?"

"Mh-hmm." he nodded.

"So you knew the beefy guy was a demon! Why didn't you say anything?!"

"Because the rule saying demons can't participate is complete and utter nonsense."

She sighed.

"I cannot believe you."

"Why does it matter? You still won. Hell, you should be even prouder to have beaten a demon!" 

He nudged her, which to her felt like a real push.

"You're right." she said as she rubbed her arm. "I get double points for that one, so now it's two to three."

"You remember the score?"

"Only when I'm winning. And oh look at that!" she looked a her palm then showed it to him with a smirk. "I'm winning!"

He knew she made this callback to make him mad, but he couldn't help but chuckle. And the fact that this was not the reaction she wanted out of him made her huff in slight annoyance.


	5. Understanding a little better

You'd think that, after what happened back in cliff city, our two protagonists would start to get along. You would. Shaky beginning but hey, it'd be a start.

Oh, how nice it must be to have hope.

Ever since they left, Monkey has been leading (Y/n) through almost hellish paths just to see the extent of her climbing skills without actually saying it. Instead he kept saying they were shortcuts, and although it was true, it was very exhausting for a human like her.

"Come on (Y/n)." he looked down at her as she climbed a big pile of rocks that was blocking the way (he was already at the top with a few jumps) "Just do the leaping thing again."

The young woman simply screamed to express her exasperation towards him.

At some point she couldn't take it anymore and decided that she would take the lead. And for a young woman who only left her home for the very first time a week or so ago, it went about as well as you'd expect.

"Admit it, we're lost!" Monkey exclaimed, dragging his feet as he followed her through the forest.

"No we're not!" she kept going and didn't look back.

"I told you the mountain side was the easier route!"

"And risking falling to my doom?! You call that easier?!"

"At least it was the safer route!"

"Have you seen the footbridge on that wall?! It was like twenty centimeters ! *This* is the safer route!" she pointed at the ground.

"How would you know?! You've never been here before!"

"It's about basic logic! If you can't go around the mountain, you go straight through the mountain!" she said as she moved her arm to illustrate her words. "I thought you were all about shortcuts."

"Not this time. You say it's safer in the forest, all I'm seeing is that demons can pop out any seconds."

"Oh please, we've been lost for hours and we still haven't encountered anyone or anything. Chill."

"That doesn't mean we're safe yet-Wait! Did you just admit that we're lost?!" he pointed at her.

"Uuuuh-."

Before she could come up with an excuse, suddenly bandits came out from behind bushes and trees, surrounding them.

"Um, at least they're not demons." she nervously smiled.

Monkey sighed, put his staff down and cracked his knuckles.

"Just stay out of my way while I handle this." he said.

"Oh you think I can't take care of this with you?" she took a step closer but then flinched and yelped when the men in front of her took out weapons. "Alright nevermind go ahead!"

He rolled his eyes and proceeded to beat up the group of men. Although he didn't kill them, they were unable to run away and just laid there in pain while our duo walked away.

"I heard you! You said we were lost!"

"Dude, the forest is making you hear things. We better get going before you go insane."

Like the first course of a meal, the bandits were only the beginning. As the sun began to set, now demons were indeed popping out of nowhere. Monkey would defeat them like it was nothing, but the amount of fighting just made him grumpier, because (Y/n) refused to admit that she was the one to blame for this situation.

"I can't believe fighting demons isn't cheering me up." he said. "You ruined kicking demon ass for me. One of my favorite things to do in the whole world and you ruined it. Thanks."

"Oh would you stop whining already?" she looked back. "I feel like I'm babysitting a child."

"Excuse me?!" he stopped for a second, shocked by what she said, before he walked again. "If anyone's babysitting anyone here it's me! I keep saving you and I don't even get anything from it!"

"It's not like I'm having a blast here either!"

"Oh really?!" he smiled ironically. "Why, why not?! You are embarking on a road trip with your childhood hero the mighty Monkey King! Fun and games all around! Going through various locations to find Guan Yin's island and uncover the mystery of Golden Cicada! When really the real treasure..." dramatic pause. "is the friendships we made along the way."

She clenched her fist, really wanting to punch him in the face. And she was about to try, but then she saw something. Ignoring Monkey's monologue, she walked up to a wooden sign planted on the ground, saying there was an inn not far ahead and that it had a hot spring available.

"Well Monkey, you're in luck." she turned back and pointed at it. "Because tonight, you and I get a night off."

Curious, he stood beside her and read the sign. Then he frowned.

"An inn, with a hot spring, right in the middle of a demon-infested mountain." he glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. "How convenient."

"I know it's suspicious, I'm not stupid." she said. "But we're both tired and it'll get dark soon, mind as well check it out." she shrugged and walked passed the sign. "And if it was a trap, I'm sure you could take care of it."

"Do you even have the money for this?"

"Ah~ don't worry about it." she quickly said.

Monkey sighed before following her. After a short while, they reached an old little building. They briefly looked at each-other before walking in.

"Hello travelers!" a rather overweight man greeted them from behind the front desk. "And welcome to our humble inn! How may I help you?"

"Uh..." (Y/n) took a long look at him, not finding anything out of the ordinary, as human behavior goes. "You see, we've been walking through the forest for what feels like forever and frankly we are exhausted."

"Of the forest and of each-other." Monkey mumbled.

"And so," she ignored him. "relaxing in a hot spring and sleeping in a bed, it would be luxury." 

"Why of course! You're lucky, we don't get a lot of customers, so the hot spring would be all to yourself."

"Not a lot of customers? Gee, I wonder why." Monkey rolled his eyes.

She quickly glared at him. But she was relaxed by the fact that, if this guy was a demon, he would see it right away.

"Don't mind him." she smiled at the man. "The forest made him cranky."

"That's okay." he smiled back. "A room for two I suppose. Would you like a couple room, or a regular two people room?"

"Regular please." she quickly replied, not wanting to even wonder why he would suggest this first option.

"Alrighty then." he turned to the side, towards a hallway. "Meilin!!!" the sudden intensity of his voice made both (Y/n) and Monkey flinch.

Not long after, a young woman around (Y/n)'s age rushed in the entry hall, slightly panting.

"Yes boss?" she asked.

"Lead the guests to their room."

She simply nodded and then the young woman Meilin escorted them to their room for the night. Meanwhile, Monkey was looking around, from time to time they'd pass by other employees, but it seemed like they were indeed the only guests here. The corner of his mouth naturally went upwards: this place was filled with demons. 

Did he knew that from the second he saw the boss? Of course. Is he gonna say anything? Not so sure. He was considering it at first, but then he saw the exciting smile on (Y/n)'s face and thought otherwise. It would be funnier if he observed from a distance and waited for them to attack and then he'd save her at the last minute so she'd see how wrong she was to have taken them here. And it was his night off after all, and hers too, who was he to disturb such an occasion? He forced himself not to giggle. Honestly, the look of regret on her face when she'll call for help will be the pay he'll receive for all this babysitting.

After settling in their room, Monkey "went out" to "pick up some fruits" because he was "hungry".

"More like hungry for justice." he whispered to himself, smiling as he watched (Y/n) through the window from outside, laying on a tree branch.

She took off her japamala and placed it on the wooden table, then she took her monkey doll out of the bag and placed it beside it. Monkey watched, confused as she began to pray. Was she praying for him via his doll replica? He couldn't help but be creeped out by this. Just then, Meilin entered the room, making her flinched.

"I apologize for startling you Miss." she said. "I got you your sheets for the night. Shall I come back later?"

"Oh, thank you." she stood up and walked up to her with her arms open. "And no, it's fine."

"What are you doing?"

"Uh, taking the sheets?"

"Huh? No no no." she walked passed her. "You are a guest here, you shouldn't be taking care of the beds. I'll do it."

"I supposed that is how it works." she followed her. "But I don't feel comfortable sitting here while you do all the work."

"It's...It's my job though."

"That shouldn't prevent me from helping you a little bit at least."

Meilin took a moment to look at her, she pursued her lips, as if trying not to express any emotion.

"Very well." she finally said.

While she helped her with her task, Monkey closely observed Meilin to make sure she wouldn't pull any tricks. The demons here were pretty weak but she seemed to be the weakest one out of them. And from the way the boss addressed her, she was bullied for it. Which he kind of understood, he would bully his old companion Pigsy everyday.

'Not my fault he was such a hilarious loser.' he smiled.

"Where is your companion?" Meilin asked.

"He went out, said he was hungry."

"You must be worried about him."

"Not really, why do you think that?" she looked at her.

"W-well, it is dangerous to be outside at such a late hour. And..." 

She looked over at the doll, still on the table. (Y/n) followed her gaze and blushed.

"That's not it at all!" she exclaimed, turning back to her. "That has nothing to do with him!"

"I-I'm so sorry! My greatest apologies! Please forgive me!"

(Y/n) was taken aback by the expression on Meilin's face as she apologized, she looked beyond terrified.

"It's okay," she softly said. "a lot of people would make that connection. It's not your fault."

The young woman relaxed a little bit at her words. (Y/n) looked over to the table.

"My...My father made it for me when I was a baby."

"Oh, a doll-maker?"

She shook her head, smiling faintly.

"He was the high monk of the monastery I used to live in." 

"Was...?" Meilin asked in a little voice.

She looked down, her smile didn't change but her eyes became sadder.

"He died while saving me from demons years ago." she paused. "And, I believe it's related as to why I'm here now."

"What do you mean?" Meilin leaned closer a little bit in curiosity.

She looked at her and chuckled.

"It's...kind of a long story but...Ironically enough, I had to run away from my home in order to protect it."

"I see..."

The conversation ended there, although Monkey really wanted her to develop. He wasn't smiling anymore.

"Thank you very much for helping me." Meilin bowed once they were finished.

"Oh it was nothing really. Now." she put her doll back in her bag. "I'll go relax in the hot spring!"

"Have you...?"

"Mmh?"

"Have you ever been in a hot spring before?"

"No."

"Oh my! Then please allow me to come with you." she said with a bit of confidence. "You see there are cases of people who pass out because they're not used to the heat."

"Really? I didn't know that." she smiled. "In that case yes, I would very much appreciate it. Thank you."

Monkey kept watching. Although he couldn't care less about seeing people naked in general, out of respect, he averted his eyes from after the two woman took off the towels covering them to when they went into the water.

"Are you the only woman here?" (Y/n) asked.

"I am yes."

"Man, must be tough. Back in the monastery, I was the one girl in a field of boys. Don't get me wrong, I love them all like brothers, but they are times when things would get...awkward? Like you could feel the gap."

"I see what you mean. But you don't need to worry about me, they are nice."

"Really?" (Y/n) leaned closer.

She must've come to the same conclusion as Monkey's. From the way she reacted to her raising her voice, they both figured that this wasn't just some friendly bullying.

"Y-yes, they're all good to me." Meilin looked down, her smile twitching slightly. "The boss is...good to me."

(Y/n)'s eyebrows furrowed and she slowly leaned back.

"If you say so. Do be careful okay? With all those demons in these parts of the mountain, having somewhere safe to stay in," she paused and her gaze wandered a bit. "or someone to protect you... It's important."

"Thank you." she smiled. "...You're very kind."

"Thanks, my name is (Y/n) by the way."

Meilin gasped. She tilted her head.

"It's the first time I learn the guest's name." she explained almost in a whispered as if she didn't believe it herself.

"Oh? Well, there's a first time for everything I suppose." she smiled. "Like the first time I went fishing!"

After that, the conversation turned friendlier, (Y/n) spoke about the shenanigans that ensued with her and her disciple-monk-brothers. It was at this point that Monkey left, he figured Meilin wouldn't attack her, not anymore at least. Instead he went to check on the boss on the other side of the inn. He was talking to his employees about his plan to sneak in their room at night and kill them. Then another one of his goons came in and talked about how Meilin was 'getting all buddy-buddy' with the human girl. 

"Well I suppose I'll have a word with her." he said.

He didn't seem to like it one bit, the men looked at each-other, worried.

"Um, boss?" one of them said. "It's Meilin we're talking about, she's always been more sensitive than others."

"I'm sure she didn't have any ill intentions by it." another said.

"She's just playing along." a third one added.

"Oh what's that?" their boss threw daggers at them. "You're taking her side? You're ganging up on me?!"

The men leaned back and quickly shook their head.

"U-um... By the way boss," one of them said. "what about the monkey?"

"Another human sympathizer," he waved his hand. "and I didn't sense any powers from him. We'll just kill him and throw his body out. Oh! Or maybe we'll keep him as a pet!"

"Good idea boss!"

"You're so smart!"

"Hehe, I know."

Monkey rolled his eyes and went back to their room. He laid down on his bed, one leg up with his ankle on his knee and hands behind his head, just in time for (Y/n) to come back, her wet hair tied up.

"Yo." he simply said.

She just hummed and kneeled in a corner, joining her hands together. She closed her eyes and started to whisper inaudibly. Monkey was about to say something, but then his eyes widen and he quickly sat up when she started to glow a gentle blue light. This went on for a little while until it slowly dissipated, after that she opened her eyes and noticed him staring at her.

"What?" she frowned.

"Did you...Did you just...?"

"I was worried about Meilin, and so I prayed for her protection. What about it?"

"...Nothing." he stood up and went for the window.

"Where are you going?"

"I gotta check something."

"At this hour?" she raised an eyebrow in suspicion. 

"Hey, didn't you say this was my *night* off?" he glanced back at her. "You do you, I'll do me."

They looked at each-other for a moment, finally she huffed and turned around.

"I'm not running away." his voice softened.

"You better not."

He silently sighed before leaving.

He watched from the roof as the boss dragged Meilin in the backyard and started to yell at her.

"How many times will I have to tell you?! Don't play with your food!"

"B-but she-"

"Oh let me guess: she said 'please' and 'thank you' and that makes her just the best person ever?"

Meilin didn't respond.

"You get all friendly with her even though I told you not to!" he raised a fist. "Looks like I'll have to beat it into your brain!"

She yelped and protected her head as he brought his fist down. But just before he could hit her, he was stopped by some sort of shield around her. They both gasped as Monkey leaned closer.

"How...?" the boss was shocked at first but soon his expression became furious again. "Where did you learn how to do that?!"

"I don't know! I swear! Maybe (Y/-)" she cut herself. "It might be that woman." she said in a little voice.

'She cast a shield to protect her and didn't even realize it?' Monkey thought, a hand to his chin. 'What is the deal with her?'

"In that case," the boss began to walk back inside. "we shall kill her as soon as her and her monkey are asleep."

Now alone, Meilin brought her hands close to her chest and fell on her knees. A moment passed before she slowly stood up with a determined expression.

"You want to try and stop them." Monkey said as he jumped down and landed in front of her, making her flinch and take a step back. "You know you're no match for them. Even with your protection barrier, it won't last forever."

She clenched her fists and looked down.

"Do you want them dead?" he asked.

"...The others aren't bad. They're just as scared of the boss as I am and don't dare to go against him."

"Very well then." he turned back. "You go to bed, I'm sure you had a long day."

And with that, he jumped back on the roof and was out of sight.

The boss and a few of his goons following him behind, armed with various weapons, slowly walked through the hallway and stopped in front of their only guests' room. He pressed his ear against the door and stayed silent in the darkness, nobody moved. He heard light snores and leaned back. He nodded towards the door, his men readied themselves as he opened it, but he stopped before he could even step in.

Sitting there cross-legged, with the girl's bed behind him, was the monkey. Beside him was his staff, standing straight in perfect balance. His arms were folded and his red eyes were glowing in the dark. He looked straight into his eyes like he was waiting for them. 

The boss smiled and confidently walked in. His employees stayed behind, hesitant to follow him, as just the gaze of the monkey made their knees tremble.

"Heh, I see what's going on." he said. "You're her little bodyguard aren't ya? How cute, you really are fit to be a pet." he paused, crouching to be at eye level, Monkey kept fixing him with almost unblinking eyes. "But, you look like you're ready to fight. Come on now, we don't wanna wake up lil missy over here." he stood up and raised his sword. "So I will be merciful and give you a quick death."

Just then, Monkey flicked his staff, making it fall onto the boss who fell under its weight, shattering his shoulder and a few ribs. He was about to scream but Monkey quickly stood up and pressed his foot on his face. As his scream was muffled into really painful hums, Monkey looked at the other men, who stopped breathing at their eye contact.

"You will quietly leave this room and close the door behind you." Monkey instructed in a clear voice. "When morning comes, you will refuse her money and politely send us on our way." he paused. "Am I understood?"

They all nodded a few times.

"Then do it already. Don't just stand there."

They quickly but quietly closed the door and Monkey could hear them running in the hallway. He picked up his staff and the demon by his face. He smiled.

"Now, why don't we go in the backyard and enjoy the moonlight?" he brought his face closer. "Unlike you, I'm not feeling very merciful."

When (Y/n) stood up, Monkey was still asleep. She unknowingly sighed of relief when she saw him, she won't deny that his absence made it harder for her to fall asleep, but she managed. Not wanting to wake him up, she left the bed and went to the dining hall. The staff was extra nice to her this morning, downright forcing her to take seconds when they served her breakfast, which was much more fancier than the dinner they offered last night. As she enjoyed her meal, Monkey walked in yawning.

"Morning." she smiled, but then remembered that she was mad at him and looked away.

Monkey mumbled and sat across from her, grabbing an apple from one of the bowls.

"I hope your night off went well." she said, trying to sound monotonous.

"Better than I thought actually. Hey, look." he looked at her. "I know I haven't been the greatest of company."

She looked at him, taken aback by his words.

"I'm willing to try and be more understanding, but only if you do the same." he pointed at her. "I really do keep saving you and get nothing from it."

"...You're right. I'm sorry too, for various things. I know I forced you into this trip with me, but understand that, you really are the only one who could help me."

Monkey looked at her for a moment, his eyes softened.

"Yeah, I understand."

She smiled faintly and scratched her cheek.

"I'm sure we both have our own...crazy circumstances as to why we're here today." she offered him her hand. "So let's try to at least be on good terms during this trip."

He smiled and shook her hand.

"That's all I wanted to hear!"

"What?"

"You saying that I'm right."

She chuckled. And just like that, breakfast became a lot more enjoyable.

After they packed their things, they went to the front desk to pay for their stay. The boss was replaced by one of his men, Meilin standing beside him.

"Nononono, free of charge, free of charge!" he intensely shook his head.

"Oh come on now." (Y/n) looked at her, handing her the money. "Meilin?"

She simply shrugged.

"And where is the owner?"

"Oh I heard he was a real piece of trash and ran away." Monkey said. "He also said that now Meilin was in charge."

"Huh?! Me?!" she pointed at herself. 

"Yeah. He also said that the others would never speak against it and go along with it like the good human boys they are." he said, staring at the men.

He gulped and nodded. 

"Is it true?" (Y/n) asked her.

She briefly glanced at Monkey before smiling widely.

"Yes! I was there." she cheerfully said. "And as the new boss here, I say you're free of charges."

(Y/n) hesitated at first but then nodded. After asking for directions to leave the mountain, they said goodbye to each-other.

Back into the forest, she looked over at Monkey.

"Did you have anything to do with this?"

"Oh I would never!" he said, still looking ahead. "All I did during my night off was a bit of trash-cleaning."

She was about to press him on the subject when she recalled Meilin's happy expression. She sighed, smiling, and just nudged him. Something she'd naturally do to her friends back in the village.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"I don't know actually, my arm just moved on its own."

"You're weird."

"You're a 500-something-year-old stone monkey demon."

"Hey, what happened to being understanding and on good terms?"

"Well, people change."

He chuckled.

"In the spam of a few hours?"

"I'm very quick-witted."

They smiled at each-other. This kind of argument was way more pleasant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, Meilin could’ve joined them. But I didn’t think Monkey could’ve handle another companion, since he’s just starting to get used to MC.


	6. At least someone’s having fun

"By the way," Monkey said as the two of them were walking. "your theory, about being Golden Cicada?"

"M-hmm?"

"Might be true."

"Really?!" she looked at him with big eyes. "Why do you say that?"

He then explained how he saw her glow last night and what happened to Meilin (without revealing that they were all demons). (Y/n) was shocked, as she really didn't know about any of this.

"Not only that," he continued. "remember those crystals back in the cave?"

"The blue crystals?"

"Yeah they're not blue. Ever since I was trapped, they've been purple."

Her eyes widen again.

"But right before you broke me out, they started to glow and turned blue. They must've reacted to your presence."

"But..." she gestured to her face. "the eyes! And I was never able to conjure a barrier around a specific person before. And back then..." she trailed off and thought for a moment. "Maybe my powers sometimes peak, but then how come it's so inconsistent?!" she asked no one in particular, getting frustrated.

"That I don't know." Monkey shrugged. "Don't get worked up over it, you'll ask Guan Yin when you see her."

She sighed.

The two of them stood on top of a cliff. Ahead of them was a big palace, along with a wall that separated the mountain and the valley on the other side. From what they heard, this place recently became the only way to leave this side of the mountain.

"It must be the one Meilin was talking about." she spoke. 

She looked over at Monkey and noticed his frown.

"What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head.

"I recognize this place." he said. "Last time I was there it didn't end too well. And I'm pretty sure they still hold a grudge against me."

"What did you do?"

"Why do you assume I did something?!"

She just raised an eyebrow. A second passed before he looked away and folded his arms.

"Wasn't my fault." he mumbled. "The king was such an idiot it was just a crime for him to have such a cool sword."

She sighed, then opened her bag to look inside.

"I could turn my blanket into a cape for you. But do you think it'll be enough?"

"It'll do the trick, you might also wanna take off your necklace too when we get inside. We just have to get your travelling papers checked and then we'll be out of here in no time."

"...Travelling papers?"

They looked at each-other in a moment of silence.

"You don't have a passport?!" Monkey finally exclaimed.

"W-Well, I never needed one before!" (Y/n) stuttered in slight panic. "And I kinda left home in a hurry!"

Monkey slowly inhaled, his hands joined together and close to his chin.

"Okay." he exhaled, pointing his hands towards her. "This is fine."

"Do you know how to get a passport?"

"Obviously not! Tripitaka was the one who took care of that paper stuff." he looked over at the castle. "The only thing we can do is ask them to make new ones."

"A-Are you sure?"

"It'll be fine, the king there is a complete idiot."

"But what if the king changed since the last time you were here?"

"Then one of his sons took over the throne. And like father like son." he paused as he looked at her. "Why are you so tense?"

"Because I... It's the first time I'll be in a palace and addressing a king." she played with her fingers. "And I'll be lying to him."

"Get used to it."

She nervously chuckled and took out her blanket.

Standing in front of the giant door, (Y/n) felt completely out of her comfort zone. She asked to see the king in a shaky voice and followed the official to the throne room. They entered the room, decorated in red and gold. She didn't look up so as to not look stupid, but she knew the ceiling was high. Beside the king was a crystal ball set on a pedestal. Monkey didn't recognized him, and he's never seen that ball before, it made him wonder how many years have passed.

"Your majesty." the official bowed once they stood in front of the king. "These travelers are asking for new passports."

"Did you lose yours?" he asked them.

(Y/n) opened her mouth but no sound came out, she was sweating a little bit. Monkey discreetly kicked her ankle, making her flinch.

"Uh-yes!" she finally said, louder than expected. "We were ambushed by bandits and we lost them as we ran away."

"I see." he smiled. "I would gladly make you new papers. What are your names travelers?"

"My name is (Y/n)," she gestured to herself then to Monkey, who adjusted his hood to make sure his face was shown as little as possible. "and this is my companion Mmmmmm~..."

She was about to say his nickname but stopped herself. Well, kinda, she just kept humming as everyone in the room looked at her confused. Finally she stopped.

"...David."

'You went from M do D just like that?!' Monkey wanted to yell, but didn't want to get attention on himself. 'And what kind of name is David?!?!?!'

"I've never heard this name before." the king stoke his beard.

"It's...Western your majesty."

"Oh, I see!" he smiled. "How exotic!"

'I see he's also an idiot.' Monkey smiled as (Y/n) quietly let out a sigh of relief.

"And what business do you have in my land?"

"Oh we are simply passing through. We have a long journey ahead of us you see."

"Of course of course, someone escort them to the customs office."

The two of them followed the official to a door on the side of the room, they walked passed the crystal ball, which turned purple soon after.

"Guards! Stop them!" the king exclaimed.

Two guards grabbed and dragged them back in front of him. The one holding Monkey took off his hood, he tried to bite his hand but failed on purpose just to scare him, and it worked, he could feel his hands shaking.

"What's up?" Monkey glared at the king.

"Haha! Think you could get passed us demon?!" he smiled widely. "You see, we recently heard that Sun Wukong was back. And when asked for help, we gladly accepted! After what he's done to my dear late grand-father!" him along with his subjects took a moment of silence before he continued. "And we were given this artifact to detect any monkey demons that walked by!"

"Yeah I'm a monkey, you gonna kill me for that?"

"Ah but we've also been given a key information." he waved his index. "For you see! That damn Sun Wukong has a particular seal on his back."

(Y/n) looked at Monkey in terror. He headbutted the guard and made a run for the exit. Suddenly, the royal shaman came out of nowhere and put a paper seal on his back as he was running past him. Monkey suddenly fell on the ground. He groaned and yelled out insults, but could only move his head and torso.

"Haha! Another gift from our friend." the king laughed.

As two other guards picked him up by his arms and dragged him back. (Y/n) shook herself out of her shock and put on a different kind on shock.

"Oh my god! You were *the* Sun Wukong this whole time?!" she pointed at him. "And here I thought you were just a regular 500-something year old stone monkey demon!" she looked at the ceiling very dramatically. "What am I to do now?!"

"So you didn't know of his true identity?" the king asked.

'Of course he'd fall for it.' Monkey thought, rolling his eyes.

"Yes! He forced me to be his servant!" she looked at him with puppy dog eyes. "I work day and night and never gain anything from it!"

"Oh you poor thing!" the king looked at her with compassion. "Say, are you perhaps good with kids?"

"Your majesty, I have been dealing with a big baby for more than a week straight."

"Hey!" Monkey shouted, offended.

"And before that, I've lived in an orphanage my whole life." she kinda lied.

"That is great news!" he clapped his hands. "We were just looking for a new nanny to care for my six sons!"

"Oh I would be honored!" she bowed. "You won't be disappointed."

"Someone fetch my oldest son to come greet his and his brothers' new nanny!" 

"Your highness, before I go." she stood straight. "Could I hurt this damn monkey for all the things he put me through?"

"Why of course. Go ahead."

"Don't you dare." Monkey said as she walked up to him.

Unexpectedly, she leaned closer and whispered to his ear so that the guards wouldn't hear. She thought of taking the seal off, but she knew the guards would catch her before she does anything.

"It'll probably take me a while, but I'll get you out, I promise."

His eyes widen slightly. He moved his head to whisper in her ear.

"If he partnered up with demons, this won't go well for any of us once they get here. Be quick."

"You hang in there. Now act very offended." 

"Um," the king leaned to the side. "you're not hitting him?"

(Y/n) smiled at Monkey before turning back to the old man.

"Your majesty I have hurt him in a more painful way:" she paused. "Emotionally."

"Oh-Oooooh!" Monkey moved his head around as if she made fun of his childhood traumas that don't exist. "How could you?! That was low! Just low!" he whined.

"Oh my, how effective." the king said. "Guards, lock him in the deepest darkest part of the dungeon until our friend sends someone to collect him."

At his words, Monkey froze and suddenly became agitated.

"Let me go! Don't you dare! Don't you dare! First thing I do once I'm out I will destroy you and everything you hold dear! You will regret the day your mama brought you on this earth! Don't you fuckin' dare!"

(Y/n) could only watched as he was dragged out of the room. She's never seen him like this before.

'Maybe the years of being trapped really left some after-effect...?' she felt her heart tightening at that thought.

"Greetings."

She turned around to see a rather young lad, around sixteen.

"I presume you are our new nanny." he bowed. "I hope we rest on good terms throughout your stay here."

'He sure doesn't talk like a sixteen year old.'

"Yes, I'm (Y/n). You're...the oldest, out of six?"

"Yes. I am Prince Jian."

'Well this will be fun.' she smiled to herself, not knowing if her statement will turn out to be ironic or not as she followed the young prince.

She glanced back one last time, hoping she won't make Monkey wait for too long.

"I still need a passport though." 

"We can get you one on the way." Jian said.

As soon as he was locked in the dungeon, Monkey has been going through a cycle of biting off the chains restricting his limbs, only to have them replaced again since he still couldn't move with the paper seal on his back. 

"Why do you keep doing this demon?" the guard asked as he replaced his chains again. "Don't you realize it's pointless."

He didn't say anything.

"If it is pointless," the second guard holding the torch said. "then why are we even chaining him?"

"You know what, you're ri-!"

"Nope." Monkey smirked. "What if I manage to get the seal off? You're never too careful with me. In fact you should put more chains on me."

"Mmm, he does have a point." 

"I guess yeah. Better safe than sorry."

So the guard put more chains around him, so they stayed longer with him, and then they left. Monkey followed them with his eyes. As soon as the torch's light was out of view, he started biting. Maybe he'll convince them to put even more chains on him, so they will stay longer.

Problem was: the more chain they made, the more time it took him to bite them off, the more time he stayed in the dark, alone. He already felt like he's been here forever.

"She better hurry up." he said to himself.

Meanwhile, (Y/n) had her work cut out for her. Looking at the boys, she wondered why a nanny was even needed. They were all doing their own thing and not bothering anybody. One was reading, another one was practicing the guzheng, even the four-year-old was quietly talking to his doll in his corner. Having such a range of age, it will be difficult to put her plan to work, but she'll sure as hell try.

"So boys," she said after introducing herself to all of them and learning their names. "what do you say we go outside and play?"

"We're not allowed to play outside." Niu the twelve-year-old said.

"Oh." she paused. "Are you at least allowed outside?"

"Yes," Peng the fourteen-year-old said. "for our morning stroll, afternoon stroll and evening stroll."

"So besides that, you stay inside all day?"

"Yes, but we do play games."

"Ah, what kind of games?"

He then gave her a sheet of paper, on it was a list of board games. She recognized some of them, her father would play these with the other old monks. If they were all like this, then they were really time-consuming and oh so very boring.

"Do you..play any other games?"

The princes shook their heads.

"Father said he was afraid things would 'go crazy' if we didn't obey the rules." Jian said.

(Y/n) felt bad for them, even sympathized with their situation. Thinking of what he said, an idea came to her. She smiled and tossed the paper aside, a look of determination on her face.

"Well boys, as your new nanny, *I* make the rules." she pointed towards the door. "And I say we go outside!"

The younger ones gasped.

"But..." the oldest said. "What if we get caught and they tell father on us?"

"Think about it:" she leaned closer, her smiled turning malicious. "you guys are the princes, you can easily turn the tables around and say they'd get fired for telling on you."

Their eyes widen in wonder.

'Oh you pure impressionable children.' she chuckled.

"Now, let's go!"

She couldn't help but let out a long and admired 'woa' at the sight of the inner courtyard. It was like a compressed meadow, with a little river going through it, two wooden bridges, a koï pond, colorful flowers of all sorts, and most important of all: lots of space.

She turned to face the princes, all looking at her with curiosity. They reminded her of Bao when he was a kid, it was cute.

'I should start simple and then gradually raise the bar.' she thought.

"First game we could play:" she sat on the grass and raised her fist. "Rock paper scissors!"

She explained the rules, which they quickly understood and began to play together. And oh boy, she did not expect her plan to work so well.

This level one game turned into a real tournament, and the princes turned out to be very competitive. She did her best not to laugh out loud when they hyped each-other up during the finals, but she would lie if she said she wasn't into it herself.

"Kuo wins!" she exclaimed as the other brothers cheered, except the loser of course.

"What?! But I picked the well!"

"Only losers pick the well Jian!" his brother said. "It's an immediate lose just by using it!"

"Hey screw you!"

"Like I screwed your mom!"

"We're brothers!"

"Don't worry Jian." (Y/n) said before they argued further. "You'll be able to take revenge on the next game!"

"Oh yeah! What's the next game?! What is it?!" the princes gathered around her.

She couldn't help but chuckle.

Around an hour later, thing definitely went out of control: the boys were hyped enough and (Y/n) brought them back inside to cause some good ol' havoc. Inevitably, officials noticed and tried to stop them, but nepotism will get you a long way. She would know, she had her fair share of it when she was a kid. Precious memories.

"Your majesties, could you at least keep it down. You could disturb the king's wor-."

"Can I get a 'Hoeyaa'?!" Peng shouted.

"Hoeyaaa~!!!" his brother repeated and laughed.

"I tried to stop them, but don't worry," she patted the official's shoulder. "I won't let things get too out of hands. And we will both keep our job." her smile became larger.

And every time, they would gulp and walk away.

"What other games could we play (Y/n)?!" Niu asked as he and the others looked at her.

She acted like she was thinking.

"There is one last game but..."

"But?" Kuo tilted his head.

She turned away, ready to say the one sentence that makes a child's brain go bonkers.

"You can't play, it's far too dangerous and cool."

"What?!" they all exclaimed and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to not smile.

"Tell us or we'll tell father on you!"

'Woa! Ready to betray me so quickly?!' she looked at them. 'They really are children!'

"Okay, okay." she raised her hand as if to say 'I give up'. "What do you say we gear up in the royal shaman's office and go raid the dungeons?"

The brothers looked at each-other, perplexed.

"Why would we do that?" Kuo asked.

"Tell me boys, what do you know about Sun Wukong, aka: the coolest being of all time?"

"We only know that he's despicable and that we should hate him."

"Did your father say that?"

They didn't respond.

"Let me tell you: he regularly breaks into Heaven just for the hell of it; he turned immortal five times; can lift 8 tons like it's a single feather; he rides a somersault cloud that could get him to the horizon within seconds; he is so powerful that the Jade Emperor had to call Buddha himself for help, and even he couldn't kill him." she paused. "Also, the second he was born, he activated his laser eyes and pierced through Heaven."

The boys let out a long 'woa~', their eyes filled with wonder.

"And guess where he is now."

"In the dungeons?!"

She nodded.

"Before I became your nanny, I was travelling with him on an epic quest to save the world. But then your father captured him just because he said your great-grandfather wasn't that cool. And because he was too reckless and didn't follow the rules."

Jian frowned and turned to face his brothers.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm sick and tired of these rules!"

"Yeah!" Peng said. "And I heard great-grandfather was not that cool!"

"Yeah he was old!" Kuo added.

"I'm sure Wukong would let you ride on his somersault cloud if you break him out." she casually said.

Suddenly the boys went wild, and now she just had to follow along.

Kuo and Niu asked the royal shaman for help, claiming there was an evil spirit in the kitchens. (Y/n) and the other princes watched from around the corner as the three of them left. The shaman took with him some incense and an artefact made of metal that she didn't recognize - But that didn't matter! - What mattered was that he didn't take any paper seals with him!

So as the boys picked up whatever cool-looking thing they found, (Y/n) picked up all the seals she could get her hands on and shoved them in her bag. 

With this guy out of the way, the next step was to get rid of all the guards. While she wondered how they'll pull it off, the boys were already on the case: they started a fire near the dungeon's entrance, using various furniture.

"Oh my lord!" she exclaimed as she noticed the growing flames.

"Oh no!" a guard said as he stepped out to see where that smoke came from. "Not again!" he exclaimed before calling the other guards.

Now that they were busy with the fire, the kids made torches and they all ran into the dungeons, picking up the keys hanging on the wall beside the door. (Y/n) followed them through dark hallways and staircases. Once they reached the bottom floor, she saw that only one cell was occupied and she went ahead of them.

"Monkey!" she shouted as she reached his cell. "Are you ok-Ah!"

"(Y/n)!" Monkey exclaimed, his whole body wrapped in chains like a cocoon. "Get that seal off me quick my teeth are starting to hurt!"

She was too focused on the chains, and he spoke so fast, she didn't hear the genuine relief in his voice when he said her name.

"Your tee-Okay?" she said, confused, but still she didn't hesitate to step in as soon as the boys unlocked the door.

She stood behind him and reached into the massive amount of chains, looking for that piece of paper.

"What did you do to those kids?" he quietly asked, a bit weirded out by how they were staring at him with adoration.

"Not much." she said in a similar volume. "With all the rules they had, I figured they were trouble-makers at heart. I just shook that out of them with a few game I used to play back home."

"Didn't you say you lived in a monastery?"

"No matter where they're from, kids will always be kids." she finally reached the seal and snapped it away. "Got it!"

Immediately after she said that, Monkey broke himself free of the chains, grabbed her by the wrist and ran out of there, the princes following them from far behind.

"What about the somersault cloud?!" Peng shouted.

"I'll explain later I promise!" (Y/n) looked back at them as they became farther and farther away. "We don't have time!"

Thankfully, Monkey remembered where the exit was and the palace hasn't change its own structure since the last time he was there. Now that the seal was off and that (Y/n) had the rest of them with her, even the royal shaman couldn't stop them when he came back after hearing what happened. So after retrieving his staff (which was just laying there on the floor since nobody could lift it), Monkey very easily defeated him and the royal guard covering the doors leading to the valley in the back courtyard. Everyone was in a panic and left immediately.

"Okay." he said as he opened them. "Now let's get out of he-."

He cut himself off. Right behind the door was a tall tiger demon, his fist was raised, as if it was just about to knock. He looked down and a large smirk formed on his face. 

"Pleasure to finally meet you Monkey King." he said.

Monkey quickly pushed (Y/n) away and backed off himself. 

The tiger demon walked in but stood in front of the doors to block them. Monkey took a look at him, he didn't have any weapons and he was alone, which made sense, since he was told Monkey was powerless and paralyzed. Still there was something about him that made him wary. But obviously, his wariness only lasted a second and he charged towards him. With a swift swing of his staff, the demon was flung towards the wall, leaving a huge impact mark on it.

But to (Y/n)'s horror, he slowly stood back up. Monkey clicked his tongue.

He charged at him once again. This time, his opponent was prepared and parried his attacks. They seemed to be equally matched but (Y/n) knew it was only a matter of time before the demon used magic and gained the upper hand. She wanted to do something but couldn't spot an opening.

At some point, Monkey landed a hit and the tiger demon was thrown away again. He landed not far from her, and as he shook his head and sat up, he noticed her.

"Why hello there." he stood up and extended a hand towards her, his palm facing her. "How about this Monkey King?" he looked over at Monkey, who stopped running. "If you put your staff down and quietly come with me, I'll let your little companion in one piece."

"Pfff!" he waved his hand. "I don't even know this girl, she keeps following me around."

"Oh, you know what I think? I think she's the newest reincarnation of Golden Cicada I've heard so much about."

"If that's the case then you need her alive in order to eat her and gain immortality."

(Y/n) felt a cold chill at the idea of being eaten alive.

"Well that's the thing," the demon said. "being alive doesn't necessarily means in one piece." he looked at her up and down. "I've seen humans survive without an eye, an arm, even both of their legs." he looked back at him and chuckled seeing his frustrated expression. "But if you don't care, feel free to attack me right now."

He gritted his teeth, growling slightly. The tiger demon seemed to very much enjoy this moment. It was then (Y/n) spotted her opening. She ran towards his outstretched hand...

"(Y/n)!" Monkey called out.

...and high-fived him.

"Huh?!" the two demons said at the same time with the same level of confusion.

"What were you even trying to do, foolish human? Your pitiful attacks won't-Wait a minute!" the tiger demon exclaimed when he realized he was laying down, unable to move his limbs.

It was then he noticed the paper seal on the palm of his hand. (Y/n) let out a long sigh, panting slightly.

"Don't thing this is over yet." she looked at the demon as he calmly spoke. "You may be clever, but you will eventually perish. You have not seen the last of me. Remember my name human: Li-" just then, Monkey snapped his neck, making her flinch.

He huffed, glaring down at his corpse.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. But we better get out of here before his boss notices his absence."

She looked back at the palace, feeling bad for leaving the kids.

"You'll explain later right, later will just be a long while"

"I guess..." she said as she followed him towards the gates. "I wish it wasn't though."

"(Y/n)!!!"

She turned around and saw the kids running towards them, some were glad, some were angry, others were confused.

"Boys!" she smiled as they stopped in front of her. "I'm sorry we ran off like that, but we had to go back on our really epic and important mission."

"You promised we'd ride the somersault cloud!" Kuo exclaimed, upset.

"Sorry kid." Monkey crouched in front of him and ruffled his hair, speaking softly. "When we're done with the hero stuff, we'll come back here and I'll take you all for a ride. How's that?" he smiled.

The young boy looked at him with stars in his eyes. This deal seemed to satisfy everyone.

"Woa! Dead demon!" Peng pointed at the corpse.

"He's the one who came here asking for help!" Jian exclaimed.

"He always acted all mysterious and cryptic!" Niu added.

"Well let that be a lesson boys." (Y/n) raised her index as Monkey stood up. "If a demon acts all cryptic and talks all machiavellian and whatnot, that means they're evil." they all nodded. "Look at Monkey: he talks like a normal person, so he's not evil."

"If only people thought the same way." he sighed.

"We don't think you're evil!" the boys exclaimed. "You're the coolest and strongest!"

He laughed and ran a hand through his hair/head fur.

"You forgot the most handsome and most clever of all." he said with a large smile, his index and thumb in the shape of an L under his chin.

The boys kept praising him and he did a few tricks with his staff to impress them. (Y/n) giggled.

"What happened to 'we better get out of here before his boss notices'?"

"Right!" Monkey said before looking at the kids. "We gotta go boys. Stay true to yourselves and follow your instincts even if they go against rules!" he gave them a thumb up. "And thanks for breaking me out of jail." his cool expression made them squeal.

"And please don't let your dad chase us down."

"We promise~! Goodbye Sun Wukong! Goodbye (Y/n)!"

They waved at each-other before the two travelers went on their way to the valley.

"Didn't expect you to be good with kids." (Y/n) smiled at him. "I thought you'd ignore them or badmouth them."

"'Course I'm good with kids!" he huffed. "Back on Flower Fruit Mountain, all my monkeys are like my children. I'm basically a father figure to all the youngest ones."

'Aw that's cute.'

"And I didn't expect you to get wild like that." he continued.

"What do you mean? I've always been like this."

He stopped and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, skeptical of that statement.

"Ever since I met you, it's mostly been 'don't do this', 'do that', 'go there'." he said in a silly voice.

"Oh come on now, I'm not that bossy!" she lightly hit his arm. "I just don't wanna be a criminal."

"You literally set a fire in a palace."

"The boys did! It wasn't me!"

"But you kinda pushed them in that chaotic direction." he started walking again. "What games did you play to make them like this exactly?"

"Well, we started with rock paper scissors-"

"Really? You started with *that*?" he asked, not impressed. 

"Hey, it's actually a cool game with lots of layers."

"Yeah I don't believe it."

"Oh, you wanna try?" she raised her fist. "You ready?"

"Ready to prove you wrong." he smiled and raised his own fist. "Everybody knows the well wins every time-"

"Oh no!" she burst out laughing. "Not you too!"

Monkey blinked twice, confused and surprised. It was the first time he saw her laugh like that. He smiled.

"I don't think you understand the Flower Fruit Mountain style of rock paper scissors. The way you humans play is so lame."

"Oh I," she wiped a tear away from her eye. "I *must* know what that is!"

"Okay: first of all, there's nine more choices, and you can play in teams so that you can combine your attacks. For example you take the rock, you take the wood, you put 'em together and you get the slingshot. And so with that you can stop the snake even without using the bear - Unless you combine the snake with the peach, it gives him energy and so he deflects the rock. But you can also betray your partner by nullifying their own attack. So you see it's all about having a good understanding of who you're teaming up with. For example when you use the cage-"

"Oh boy..." she mumbled, ready for a whole lecture that'll probably go on for hours.

Still, with how into it he was, she couldn't say it wasn't boring to listen to.


	7. Not in the dark

By now, (Y/n) understood the rules fairly well, still she was no match for the rock-paper-scissors-Flower Fruit Mountain style Master. The score: twenty-five to two.

"Best out of thirty?" she asked.

"Just admit I won already."

"Okay okay, one last time and whoever wins this one wins it all."

"Fine."

"1, 2, 3-Seal!"

(Y/n) pressed one of the paper seals on Monkey's chest, making him fall on the ground mid-walk with a grunt. She laughed.

"You cheater!" he glared up at her. "Get this off me!"

"Sorry, sorry." she crouched and removed it. "It was too funny not to do."

"Oh I'll show you funny when I tie you to my staff and leave you hanging!" he sat up.

"Oop can't have that." she put it back on his chest and was ready to laugh again.

But to their surprise, the seal didn't work.

"Huh?" she tilted her head.

"Figured." Monkey said as he removed it himself and looked at it. "Powerful seals like these can't be used all the time. These must be one-use only."

"Oh, shouldn't use them wildly then."

He nodded before slowly turning his head towards her. 

"Monkey. Come on, what did I just say?"

He smirked. (Y/n) quickly stood up and backed away while he took his time.

"Monkey?"

He didn't say anything, she gulped.

Hanging on the end of Monkey's staff by the back of her collar while he supported the other end on his shoulder, she blew on the paper seal placed in the middle of her forehead and blocking half of her face. The bottom lifted for a second before slowly going down again.

"When are you going to let me go?!" she asked, lightly bouncing around with every step he took. "I said you won!"

"Just wanna make sure you understand how it feels."

"It feels weird~, like I don't have arms or legs anymore!"

"Oh my lord! Demon!"

The two of them looked to the side where a rice field was. An old man stood in the middle of it, along with other farmers, and pointed at them with a shaky finger.

"Don't worry!" Monkey exclaimed, waving his hand and smiling. "She deserved it, just a friendly argument between friends!"

"It's fine! Don't worry I'm okay!" (Y/n) added.

Still a bit weirded out by the view, the farmers calmed down and went back to work, though they still followed them with their eyes.

'Wait.' (Y/n) realized. 'Did he just say we were friends?!'

She glanced back at him. She couldn't tell if he was serious or if he just said it so the farmer calmed down. She decided not to ask, thinking he'd probably laugh at her if she even asked, whatever his answer would be.

After a while, during which Monkey finally removed the paper seal, the two of them reach a village. The sun was setting so they went to the local inn for dinner, but unfortunately, there was no room left. They asked around but no one had one available for them. (Y/n) sighed in disappointment. Although she was now used to sleeping outside, she would still much rather sleep on an actual bed.

"Oh well." Monkey shrugged, not really bothered by this issue. "We'll just set camp here." he gestured to the marketplace they were walking through, now empty.

"Camp? I don't think starting a fire is allowed in places like these."

"Well then let's get out of here."

"Why? I'd rather stay safe within walls, even if I'll get cold."

"Nonsense." he pushed her towards the village's exit. "You'll freeze to death outside without a fire."

"On a summer night? I'll be fine."

But he ignored her.

Since they were surrounded by fields of all sorts, they set camp right in the middle of a road between two wheat fields. Which (Y/n) thought was ridiculous but Monkey insisted on it, since he obviously couldn't start a fire in the middle of the fields.

"What if a carriage passes by?" she asked as he started the fire.

"I'll just tell them to buzz off. You go to sleep already, it's getting late."

It was dark by now, and it made her think of how agitated he got at the thought of being locked up in a dark dungeon. It would explain why he was so eager to have a fire beside him while he slept.

Something in her mind clicked. 

"Say," she said as she set up her blanket, using her bag as a pillow. "do you sleep?"

"'Course I sleep."

"Okay, let me rephrase that." she looked at him, his back facing her. "When do you sleep?"

He didn't spoke for a moment and turned towards her.

"Why do you ask?"

"I've never seen you go to sleep. And when you wake up, it's as if you haven't slept at all."

"Pfff!" he waved his hand and walked around the fire to sit across from her. "I'm just a heavy sleeper, what do you want from me?"

"Not only that, but whenever we sleep outside, there's still a flame left of the fire when I wake up."

"I'm really good at fire."

"Monkey..." she tilted her head. "Are you scared of the dark and you stay awake until the sun comes up?"

He pursued his lips and frowned.

"Don't be ridiculous! Go to sleep already!"

"You first!" she folded her arms.

"Are we really doing this? Are you really gonna turn this into a game?"

"It's not a game. It's me making sure you get a good amount of rest." she said. "You're gonna go to sleep, the fire will eventually extinguish itself, and when you wake up you'll be all refreshed."

"...Okay." he stuck his staff on the ground so that it stood vertically and he could press his back on it. "I'll play along." he looked at her with a smirk.

"Oh it's on."

They glared at each-other.

It's been an hour and (Y/n) felt exhausted. Monkey on the other hand has been staring at the stars this entire time, not even fazed. Of course he'd make sure the fire was still lit, which only confirmed her theory. 

"It's to make sure you can see, with your poor human sight you'd be blind without it!" he glared at her when she pointed it out.

"Sure." she said with a voice full of sarcasm.

To keep herself up, she thought about all the crazy things that have been happening to her ever since she left her little village. She sighed, better not think about the village she thought, she didn't want to get too homesick. She instead thought about the people she met, like that weird quizz show host that was so dedicate to his job he stayed put and explained the rules at the demon that was chasing after her. Meilin, sweet Meilin, (Y/n) was certain she was doing well now. And the boys, those sweet trouble-making boys, even their father put a smile on her face as she thought of his naivety.

She slightly frowned, something in her mind clicked again.

"Say," she looked at Monkey. "the king we met earlier..."

"Mmh?"

"He said you stole from his grandfather?"

"Yep. Tripitaka did not like it when he found out." he rubbed his forehead where his crown was.

"And he was pretty old. That would mean..." she thought. "The last time you've been there was like a century ago."

"Huh, maybe." he shrugged. "Like I said, I stopped counting after, what, thirty years?"

"Thirty years?!"

"What?"

"Monkey, I'm twenty."

"Okay? Good for you."

"No! That's not what I mean!" she looked down, her eyes wide. "I mean that there were other reincarnations of Golden Cicada before me."

"Oh."

"That doesn't surprise you?"

"Meh." he shrugged again. "Makes sense actually."

"What do you mean?"

"You know, Tripitaka would be in danger 24/7. Because of his eyes, his powers and even the fancy clothes he had, he was the target of demons and humans everywhere and they could see him coming a mile away." he glanced at her. "Now I don't know what's the deal with your eyes, but I'm willing to bet the one - or ones - before you didn't have that disguise. And if you are another reincarnation, that would mean they passed their powers onto someone else." he looked back at the sky, smiling. "I get it. Without someone like me to protect them, they wouldn't stand a chance, they probably knew it too and gave up on their powers. Or maybe they died and it was their last resort, or maybe they just didn't want that baggage, we'll never know."

"...damn." she quietly said. "Wait a minute. If I am the target of demons everywhere, then isn't it just a bad idea to have a fire lit all night?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me! A fire would just attract attention, especially in a place like this!" she gestured around them, where even the village had no lights on during the night, unlike towns and cities.

"There's no demon here, chill."

"Maybe not now, but there sure could be later!"

"I'm on high alert, they can come at me if they dare."

"Your lack of sleep is making you stupid."

"Hey! I am as sharp as ever!" without looking away, he grabbed something between his thumb and index and showed it to her. "See?! I just grabbed this bug and I didn't even had to look!" he said before releasing it.

"What-ever dude."

They were silent for a while. By now (Y/n) found difficulty keeping her eyes opened every time she blinked. She stood up, thinking a bit of exercise would keep her awake. She began to pace around the fire as Monkey followed her with his eyes.

"You'll just get sick if you keep spinning like this."

"Yeah." she stopped and looked around. "Maybe I'll go for a stroll."

"At night? In this darkness? Bad idea." a smile formed on his face, he sat up and picked up his staff before placing in on the ground. "Why don't you try and lift it?" he gestured towards it.

"You think I'm stupid? We both know very well it's impossible for me to do that."

"Actually," he lifted his index. "it's not just about strength. If you are near as powerful as me, you could lift it. And you are technically Golden Cicada former disciple of Buddha."

She narrowed her eyes, suspicious of his words.

"I'm just sayin'. Plus it'd be a good way to pass time." he shrugged, still smiling.

Not changing her suspecting stare, she walked towards the staff. She looked down at it for a moment before crouching down. She picked one end of the staff and tried to lift it, putting her strength into her knees. Unsurprisingly, it didn't move an inch. (Y/n)'s face became red as Monkey tried not to laugh. At some point she stoped, panting.

"Okay wait." she sat down cross-legged. "Wait wait."

She sat straight and closed her eyes, moving her hands up and down as she breathed slowly.

"What are you doing?" 

"I'm meditating." she explained, keeping her eyes closed. "Maybe my powers will peak again if I concentrate hard enough."

He laughed.

"Do you even know how to meditate?!"

"I've seen others do it. But I admit I never properly learned myself."

"I can tell. It's more than just sitting down and breathing."

"Have you ever meditated?"

"'Course, when I trained to practice the Tao. And Tripitaka would meditate everyday so I picked up some things from him too. We'd even meditate together sometimes."

"Could you teach me?" she leaned closer with a spark in her eyes.

"...sure."

"Wait for real?!" she exclaimed, not expecting that answer.

"Sure. Place your hands like this." he formed a small circle with his hands.

She mimicked the way he did it.

"Close your eyes." she closed them. "Relax..." he spoke in a softer voice. "And just breathe..."

And she did, she relaxed her muscles and the warm heat of the fire made her feel comfortable... She suddenly opened her eyes again and glared at Monkey who started laughing.

"You're just trying to make me feel sleepy!" she picked up a small rock and threw it at him, she missed.

"You are sleepy." he smirked as she went back so sit on her spot. "I can tell by this horrible throw and the bags that are starting to form under your eyes."

"How come *you* don't have bags?!"

"Because I'm amazing duh!" he said as he picked up his staff and stuck it vertically again.

She rolled her eyes.

She fixed the fire for a while, her chin placed on her knees and she hugged her legs. The light shining right in her face seemed to help keeping her awake.

"Say," she said. "how was Tripitaka?"

He frowned and looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, what kind of guy was he?"

His gaze wandered for a bit, not finding an answer.

"If you could describe him in one word, what would it be?"

"Gullible."

She couldn't help but laugh at his immediate and blunt respond, and the fatigue made it extra funny.

"Really?"

"Yeah, like *the* most gullible guy I've ever seen in my life!" he sat up and faced her, getting worked up. "He *knows* I'm the demon expert, yet he still believes everyone but *me* when it comes to demons in disguise! Like seriously?! You believe Pigsy's stupid theories when I'm over here spitting fact?!" he huffed. "At least he's also gullible enough to take me back every time he banishes me from the group."

She smiled and noticed his eyebrows furrowed for a brief moment.

"You miss him though, right?"

He looked away.

"When you're trapped for a century, you get used to it." he said.

"...I can kinda understand the feeling of being trapped. But I can't say I've felt alone."

"'Felt'?" he suddenly looked at her, pissed off. "There's no feelings here (Y/n). I *was* trapped. I *was* alone. And no human with such a short lifespan can ever say that they understand how it feels to be in my shoes!"

"I-I'm sorry." she said in a small voice.

"We both experienced mourning, that's nice and all. But I bet my peaches you weren't surrounded by total darkness, not knowing where your friends were and being completely powerless, not being able to prevent their death when you've been the one who saved them all every single time they were in danger. It was my one and only failure and look where it brought me!" he opened his arms. "And now every night feels as if I'm back in that stupid crystal! And no way in hell or heaven above am I going to allow myself to feel this *weak* ever again!" he pressed on this word like it was the most repulsive thing he's ever said.

He then realized he got carried away and turned around, pressing his shoulder on his staff. None of them said anything for a while. (Y/n) pressed a hand on her chest, her heart was still racing from a mix of shock and guilt.

"...At least you're not alone anymore."

He glanced back at her.

"Yeah right." he angrily mumbled before turning back around.

She felt a pain in her chest at his answer and squeezed her legs. She sighed sadly and laid down, ready to give up and sleep. Just then she heard a faint buzz. She sat back up and saw a bug flying around her, she started waving her hand towards it to make it go away but stopped when it passed by her face, allowing her too see it up close. Her eyes widen and she frantically looked around with narrowed eyes.

Monkey was ready to stay angry at (Y/n) until she begged for forgiveness the next day when he heard noises behind him. He turned around to see her searching for something in her bag, she seemed to be in a hurry.

"What are you doing now?" he asked, exasperated.

But she ignored him. Eventually, she took out a wooden bowl she'd use when eating on the road and stood up. Then she ran away.

"Hey!" Monkey called out.

He was about to run after her but then he saw her stop by a nearby rice field and crouched down to fill the bowl with water. Then she came back and spilled the water on the fire, putting it out.

"The hell?!" Monkey stood up and watched as she then kicked around one of the wheat field. "What is your proble-?!" he stopped himself as little lights started to lit up from the field and all around them as they gently floated in the air.

(Y/n) looked back at him.

"It wasn't a bug," she said. "it was a firefly. Now you don't need a fire anymore." she looked up. "And look." he followed her gaze. "The stars look much brighter now."

Indeed, not only could they now see even more of them than before, they could also see the blue light of space in the sky.

"I know it's hard to not feel the way you've been feeling for a whole century." he looked at her as they faced each-other. "I don't expect you to heal from it just like that." she smiled, her eyebrows furrowed. "But Monkey, I want you to understand: You're not trapped in that mountain anymore, there will always be light somewhere, even in the dead of night. And you are not alone, just like I'm not alone either, I..." she looked away, scratching her cheek in embarrassment. "I consider you my friend you know?"

He blinked twice. For a brief moment, he was at a lose for words. Emphasis on 'a brief moment'. He burst out laughing.

"Oh man." he sighed, still smiling. "Did you have to say something so embarrassing?"

"But it's true!"

"Eh~ more like we went from 'I hate your guts' to 'I tolerate you now'."

"Oh come on!" she said as the two of them sat back down. "I thought our rock paper scissors tournament brought us closer!"

"So you're like my rock paper scissors pal. To be honest, it's a higher rank than most people have had before. So wear it like a medal."

"...Are you still angry?"

"Nah~ being angry is tiring anyway."

She smiled, glad to see this casual look of superiority on his face again.

Just then, the wind blew and (Y/n) shivered, rubbing her arms.

"Um..." she blushed lightly. "Could we start a fire again?"

Monkey laughed.

"Sure." he said as he picked up what he needed.

"But wait, Monkey?"

He looked at her.

"Could you... Could you promise me you'll try to get some rest?"

He smiled softly.

"I'll try."

She smiled. He lit another fire, but this one was much smaller than before. 

(Y/n) was asleep by now but Monkey simply couldn't sleep, he was too used to staying up, habits die hard hard after all. Because the flame was smaller, he could still see the fireflies. And after a while when the little fire went out, he didn't try to revive it. Instead he looked at the quiet light show of nature before him, the night sky shining a dark blue light onto the world around him. It was the first time in a long while he's seen fireflies, he forgot how shiny they were. He followed one as it landed on (Y/n)'s nose and she almost swallowed it. He chuckled and laid down. 

He faced the lit up sky and closed his eyes, hearing nothing at first, which made him uneasy. But he forced himself to not open his eyes, and as the seconds passed, he started hearing the gentle wind, the rustling in the wheat fields, the faint buzz of the bugs around him, and (Y/n) snoring and moving in her sleep.

He felt more at ease that night, and he kept his eyes closed.


	8. Haha, boy band song references-Wait.

(Y/n) was startled awake by the sound of Monkey arguing with a group of people on their carriage. Four men and one woman.

"Watch where you're going! You almost rolled on me!"

"Who in their right mind would sleep in the middle of such a narrow road?!" the man driving exclaimed. "Didn't you see the village literally three minutes of walk away?!"

"There wasn't any room left!" he folded his arms.

"Yeah we had the same problem. You know what we did? We stayed inside the village and slept there!"

"Dishi," the woman placed her hand on his shoulder. "let's just go."

The man, Dishi, huffed, him and Monkey kept glaring at each-other. (Y/n) stood between the two of them and bowed.

"I sincerely apologize for my friend's rude behavior. For the record, it was his idea." she spoke in a higher voice than usual and stood straight. "If I may ask, where are you going?"

"To the city at the other side of the valley." the woman replied since her companion didn't seem to want to.

(Y/n) smiled.

"If it's not too much to ask, could we get a ride?"

"Huh?!" both Dishi and Monkey exclaimed. "Why?!"

"You see we've traveled for such a long distance, and we have much more to travel. And we are going in the same direction. If we could get a little break from walking, it would be very much appreciated." 

"Of cour-"

"Hey, come on now." Dishi cut the woman off. "Why would we let two poor-looking peasants travel with us?"

"Poor-looking...?" she looked down at her clothes.

They were a bit dirty but...it was her favorite tunic.

"Peasants?! Watch your mouth human!" Monkey pointed at him. "I am the Great Sage Equaling Heaven and I demand your respect!"

"Ha! A sorry-looking sage you are!"

"You think you're one to talk?!" the woman smacked him on the back of his head, shutting him up. "Between travelers, we help each-other!" she smiled at them. "You're welcome to join us. Guys!" she looked back at the other three men in the carriage. "Make some space!"

"Sure thing! Hop on in!" they smiled.

(Y/n) excitedly packed up her things. Monkey leaned closer to her and whispered:

"You got all suck up and polite. What's the real reason why you wanna go with them?"

"I've never been on a carriage before." she smiled widely. "The only horse I've ever seen is the village farmer's, and now there's two of them!"

Monkey sighed, rolling his eyes. She happily sat among the group but Monkey stayed where he was.

"You're not coming?" she asked.

"I've always preferred going by foot." he placed his staff on his shoulder and started walking.

"Did you?" 

"Fine by me." Dishi said as he made the horses walk beside him.

The two women sighed and looked at each-other.

"Sorry about him. Oh-" they laughed after they said the same sentence at the same time.

"I'm (Y/n), this is Monkey."

"Hahaha~! Monkey?!" Dishi laughed.

"That's not my real name you cretin! It's Sun Wukong!"

"Oh really? Why aren't up in heaven being all mighty and whatnot?"

"I don't have to give you my whole backstory!"

"It's my nickname for him sir." (Y/n) moved so she could be in his sight. "I would appreciate if you don't mock it." she said in a voice that hid some animosity. 

He just hummed.

"Or he can just call me by my name! I know that this guy would say your nickname like it's an insult."

"You can smack him behind the head if you want." the woman said.

"Oh trust me," Monkey smiled. "I would *love* to. But I know that if I did, he'd end up missing his head."

She chuckled.

"I'm Jia." she gestured to herself then to her other companions, an older man and twins in their thirties, the same age as her. "This is Lim, the twins Wei and Wen."

"Are these your real names, or is it just for the almost-the-same twin effect?" (Y/n) asked.

"Stage names." they nodded and said together, making her smile.

"And this grumpy man on the rider seat is my husband, you already know him."

"Husband?!" Monkey exclaimed. 

"What? Jealous?" Dishi smirked.

"I'm just surprised that someone would wanna be with your grumpy old ass."

"I'm only 38!"

"Oof."

"I don't think you get to use 'being old' as an insult dude." (Y/n) smiled at him before turning back to Jia. "It's nice to meet you all."

"Likewise."

"Where are you going exactly?" Lim spoke. "With a demon none less."

"Well..." she hesitated. "We're going to Guan Yin's island."

"Woah?!" they all looked at her with big eyes.

"And you're going there with a demon?" Dishi asked without looking away from the road. "That's a recipe for disaster."

"In a way, you're kinda right."

"Hey!" Monkey exclaimed. "The victim of said disasters is mostly me having to deal with her!"

"Monkey also needs her help," she ignored him. "so we decided to travel together. And he's really strong so demons and robbers are no problem."

"Damn right!" he nodded.

"How long have you been traveling?"

"A week or so. What about you? You probably have a lot of experience, having a carriage and all."

"Oh yeah, we go *way* back!" Wei leaned back.

"We're pretty much like a family." Wen leaned back. "And Dishi is the mom."

"You brats!" said man exclaimed, making the whole group laugh.

"Someone has to fill the role honey." Jia shrugged.

"What about you?!"

"Why I am obviously the cool aunt."

He sighed. (Y/n) chuckled, she then noticed the musical instruments.

"Oh! You're a music band?"

"Yeah, we do the music and singing, and the twins do the dancing." Jia explained. "And right now we're heading to our biggest gig yet!"

"Really?"

"There's this annual dinner that the Lord of the place hosts with all his family." Wen said. "And every year he picks a different band to come and entertain them, and if he's satisfied he gifts them this big pot of soup."

"And also a lot of money!" Wei added.

"Soup?" she tilted her head.

"Yeah, it's said to be delicious. I think it's made with peach-?"

"The peach soup?!?!?!"

The carriage came to a halt and everyone shouted in surprise when Monkey suddenly jumped on it and leaned close to the twins, almost bumping foreheads

"Uh-Yeah?"

"Why the sudden interest?" (Y/n) asked. "What's up with that soup?"

"You don't understand (Y/n), it's not just a soup." he turned towards her.

"What? Does it make you immortal?"

"No-look, I went there last time I traveled to the West. Took care of some demon problems, the Lord gave us the soup as a thanks. You know I'm not a fan of cooked food. But this!" he pointed forward. "One of the best thing I've ever eaten!"

"Well if you say that, then it must be really good." she smiled.

"Oh it is." he nodded. "And if one person gets to have some, it's gonna be me." he hopped down. "Everybody come here."

"Huh?" the band looked at him in confusion. 

"Whatever your level is right now, let me tell you it's not enough. I wanna see what I'm working with."

"You...You want to coach us?" Jia asked.

"Do you know anything about bands?" (Y/n) asked amore important question.

"I know about entertainment." he faced them leaning on his staff. "First of all, I'm a king, I know what the nobles want."

'Pretty sure you don't fit with most of them...' she thought.

"And also: I've had plenty of times when I turned into a hot lady, snuck into palaces and seduced a bunch of dudes with my sick moves. So yes, I know what I'm talking about."

"We don't have time to waste on your unwanted criticism!" Dishi exclaimed.

"We could show you some quick moves!" the twins happily hopped off and went up to him.

They then performed a short dance routine. (Y/n) was mesmerized while Monkey was observing every little movements they made with a very analytical eye. When they struck their final poses, she clapped and they bowed to her. Monkey hummed.

"Yeah you're alright, but it's missing something." they looked at him. "It's too bland, where's the flavor?!"

"Flavor?"

"If you wanna swoon your audience, you gotta tease 'em a little bit."

"I'm not sure this is the goal here Monkey." (Y/n) said. "They don't want to seduce them, they want to entertain them."

"Potato potato." he waved a hand as a way to dismiss her. "You have to connect with them, give them the look."

"What look?"

"Oh you know." he slowly nodded. "The kind of look that says 'I know you know I'm hot'!"

"Okay now I really think you're misunderstanding this whole situation." she spoke again.

"Oh I'm sorry." he looked at her. "Are you the dancing expert?"

"Are you?"

"Is that a challenge?"

"Whatever it is, we've already wasted enough time." Dishi sternly said. "Wei, Wen, get back here before we get late. We still have a long way to go."

Monkey glared at him and the twins looked at each-other in slight disappointment before walking back to the carriage. (Y/n), seeing the look on her friend's face, shrugged as if to say 'what can you do'.

"You do have a point though." Wei looked at him as they went back on the road. "About connecting to your audience."

"It's essential." he nodded. "Skills without spirit mean nothing."

"What about us?" Jia looked at him. "Think you could give the musicians some tips?"

"Depends, what do you got?"

She grabbed her pipa and positioned it on her lap.

"Please don't play while I'm driving." Dishi said. "I have to concentrate on the road."

"Oh, okay then." 

"What?" he went closer to her so her husband wouldn't hear. "This is the most horizontal road I've ever walked on. Why are you listening to him?"

"I don't want to do anything that'd make him uncomfortable."

"You let us tag in for the ride and he wasn't too happy about that."

"Yeah but he was being a stubborn old man." she said. "Don't worry, I'll try to talk to him later."

The group stopped when they stumbled upon a broken bridge going across a river. Monkey checked its depth by dipping his staff in the water to see if it'd touch the bottom, didn't even reach it.

"Oh it's deep alright." he said as he rotated it to dry if off. "And the current is strong too, so you can't just swim across."

"Good, I can't swim." (Y/n) said, standing beside him.

"Yeah me neither." 

"Really?!"

"I can breathe underwater, doesn't mean I know how to swim, let alone fight underwater. I just let myself sink to the bottom and walk."

"It's not like we can go across with the carriage." Jia said. "The only way to go is by boat."

"If we can find one big enough to transport us." Dishi said. "There must be another bridge somewhere, if we go along the river I'm sure we'll find it eventually."

"Excuse me travelers!"

They all looked over to see a boatman going up the river on a boat large enough to fit the whole carriage and stopping in front of them.

"I was sent here after the bridge broke down. Here to help out anyone who'd want to go across the river." 

"Oh yeah." Monkey turned towards the others, pointing at the boatman with his thumb. "Classic human-eating technique: they break a bridge, disguise themselves as a boatman and once you're far away enough from the shore they drown you and eat you."

"Oh, so he's a demon?" (Y/n) asked.

He nodded and smiled, thinking how refreshing it was to have his companion believing his words so quickly. Meanwhile, the boatman just looked very confused.

"What are you saying?" Dishi asked. "He's obviously human. Why would a demon offer their services like that?"

"Like I said: classic human-eating technique." Monkey said through his teeth. "They know any gullible human would fall for it."

They glared at each-other.

"I'd recommend listening to him on this one." (Y/n) said. "Monkey has special eyes that allow him to see through demons' disguises."

"Oh please." Dishi looked over at his companions and saw that they didn't share his point of view. "You guys believe him?!"

"He is another demon, why would he lie about that?" Lim shrugged.

He clenched his fists and hopped down the carriage.

"Quit playing games will you?" he walked passed him and stood in front of the boat. "Sorry chap, this guy's a sucker."

Monkey started walking towards him in anger but (Y/n) placed her hand on his chest to stop him, which made him glare at her for a brief moment.

"Sir," she said. "I really don't think-"

"When I'll stand on the other side of the river, then you can talk!" he turned back to the boatman. "How much is it?"

"Oh it's free of course. You know helping people is a reward on its own." he gestured him to get in and he gladly did.

Monkey clicked his tongue as the boat began to go across the river.

"You're going to regret this."

Dishi just ignored him and soon enough he quickly made it to the middle of the river, now out of reach. Just then the boatman turned into a fish demon and grabbed him.

"Bye bye bye~!" the demon waved before jumping in the water as Dishi screamed.

"Dishi!!!" Jia shouted as the others gasped.

Monkey didn't hesitate to jump in. Sticking his staff into the bottom so as to not be caught by the current, he knew he had limited time before Dishi was out of breathe. He saw him struggling in the demon's grasps but to no avail.

"Oh~ lil monkey can't swim?" the demon said when he noticed him. "This should be fun!"

He swung his arm and suddenly the current became much stronger. Thinking fast, he threw his staff towards the demon, anticipating the strong current by aiming more to the side so that it'd hit him right in the face. The demon was knocked out and he let go of Dishi, but the latter was just caught by the current, which was still going strong. Without his staff, Monkey moved his legs to go faster and grabbed him. With one swift move, he threw him out of the water towards the shore.

He flew in the air for a moment before his companions caught him. They laid him down and Jia pressed on his chest as he coughed loudly. (Y/n) ran, following the current.

"Monkey!!!" she shouted as she saw his hand out of the water going back under.

Monkey faced up the river and let himself sink. Once he was at the bottom, he gripped the rocks and began to horizontally climb back up. Slowly but surely, he reached his staff which was laid on the bottom, unbothered by the current. He grabbed it before going sideways to the shore. He stuck it in the ground and used it as leverage so that his arms could get to the surface. 

As soon as (Y/n) saw them, she grabbed his wrists and pulled him up with all her weight. Monkey finally out of the water, she fell backwards as he fell forward and they both laid side by side, her on her back, him on his stomach. Panting, they looked at each-other.

"Oh thank gods!" she exhaled, smiling. "I was so scared!"

"I told you, I can breathe under water." he said and stood up, shaking his head intensely to dry himself.

"Yeah but who knows how far that river could've gotten you!" she stood up.

"You saved my husband." they turned over to see Jia bowing. "I can't thank you enough."

"It was nothing." he casually said but then fixed Dishi, waiting for his thanks and apology.

He hesitated, not looking at him directly. But he eventually bowed too.

"Thank you for saving me." he mumbled, sounding a bit shy. "And...I'm sorry for being so rude to you." he paused. "If you have some tips to make our performance better, we'd be glad to hear them."

Monkey sighed, smiling. 

"Apologies accepted old man. Hope you're ready to hear the words of a master!"

Thankfully, the boat was still there, and once Monkey carefully pulled it towards them using his staff, they were able to cross the river and get back on the road. Turns out Dishi wasn't making excuses when he didn't want Jia to play while he rode.

"When Jia plays, he listens closely and he gets distracted." Lim explained in a hushed voice.

"Aww~!" (Y/n) placed a hand on her heart.

At some point, the group settled down for dinner. They took this opportunity to practice, under Monkey's teaching.

"Let's do this again boys, step by step!" he turned to the musicians. "Also, there needs to be more energy, and you boy need to really feel the music. Don't dance *to* the music, dance *with* the music. From the top, come on, put it in your body!"

"What?!" (Y/n) exclaimed.

"The music, put it in your body."

"You gotta pick a better way to say that." she slowly shook her head, trying not to mock his enthusiasm. "There's gotta be a better way to say that."

Throughtout practice, she just looked from afar as she chilled with the horses. She didn't expect Monkey to be such a stern teacher, but he did offer good advice and feedback and it did made the band's performance better. After they all dined together, him and the twins entered a dance battle with Lim on the beat.

"Go Monkey! Go Monkey! Go Monkey!" they all cheered as he was obviously killing it.

After this friendly battle, things quieted down as they just sat in a circle and chatted. (Y/n) noticed that Dishi and Jia left, she looked around and then saw them sitting side by side and talking, though they were too far away for her to hear.

"What are they doing?" she asked.

"Alone time." Lim answered. "It's a couple thing, they're on a date so they need their space."

"Do they do that often?"

"Almost every night."

"Aw, that is so cute!" she placed a hand on her chest and turned back. 

"I really don't get what she sees in him." Monkey shook his head.

"Sometimes, opposites attract."

"Not when they're complete opposite. He doesn't even act like a husband."

"You'd be wrong about that." they both looked at Lim. "It's actually Dishi who had this idea of alone time."

"Really?" (Y/n)'s eyes widen.

"He always acts tough and grumpy, but we all know that it's not how he really is. He just has a hard time trusting people and opening up to them."

"And Jia knows him better than anyone here," Wei said. "and Dishi knows it!"

"M-hmm!" his brother nodded. "She could be calling his name from the other side of the valley and he'd come to her running!"

As (Y/n) 'aw'ed louder, Monkey glanced at the couple and watched as Dishi placed his head on his wife's shoulder.

"Guys." Monkey said as they stood in front of the lord's house the next day. "You got it," he paused, giving them a thumb up. "the right stuff. You'll kill it in there."

"And when we come back, we'll feast on that soup together!" Dishi smiled. "Just you wait!"

"You better keep your words old man!"

"Monkey, do you not trust me?!"

"Alright you two, we have to go." Jia said as (Y/n) chuckled. "We don't want to keep the lord and his family waiting."

"Good luck guys!" (Y/n) waved.

They waved back and entered the house, the door closing behind them. Now alone, the two of them decided to look around the city. Just like before, people would turn their head and stare at them. But to Monkey, it was different this time. He'd hear them say things like 'impossible' or 'it can't be'. But of course, every time he'd look at them, they'd shut up and turn their head away. He frowned.

"Woa~!" (Y/n) exclaimed as she stopped in front of a clothes shop and looked at the different fabrics. "Those aren't poor-looking!"

"Poor-looking?" he repeated, then remembered where he heard that the first time. "Oh come on, your clothes are fine. Don't waste your money on this."

"I know they're fine, but I do only have this one outfit at the moment." she looked down at her tunic. "Having a spare one would be good."

"Would you like to try some hanfus my lady?" the shop keeping asked. 

"I'm sorry, I don't need a hanfu." she shook her head.

"But you'd look so gorgeous in one." she gestured towards the fabrics. "They are of the softest of silk you know? An exceptional quality."

"Well..." she thought for a moment. "It's true that I've never tried one on before." she smiled. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

"You've never put on a hanfu?! How-!" she cut herself, revolted at first but then she laughed. "Well, there's a first time for everything. Please, come in."

"That is true." she said as her and Monkey followed the shop-keeper inside, one obviously more enthusiastic than the other.

After the band performed their heart out, the lord and his family were at a loss for word for a moment before they clapped.

"Absolutely magnificent!" the lord said. "Why, I haven't been this entertained in years, your group has largely earned our famous peach soup. Someone bring them a pot right away, along with their payment of course." he lifted an hand and a servant bowed before leaving the room.

"Our deepest thanks my lord, you're honoring us." Dishi bowed along with the others. "But I must say, this wasn't without help. We would've been slightly - like 1%, like you wouldn't really notice it, like-" Jia nudged him hard. "Wh-what I mean is: our performance wouldn't have been the same without the help of some people we met on our way here."

"Well if that is the case, then I must know their names."

"(Y/n) and Sun Wukong."

Suddenly the lord stood up, practically knocking off the table, the group looked up as some of the servants gasped. The whole room was silent for a long moment.

"What did you say?" he said with a grave voice.

"Don't buy it."

"But it's so pretty~!" 

"You will never get to wear it - And you said that about all the others!" Monkey gestured to the pile of hanfus (Y/n) has been trying on for the past hour. 

She sighed and bowed to the shop-keeper.

"I apologize for taking so much of your time and not buying anything."

"Buying?! Nonsense!" she shook her head. "In fact, you can have them all for free!"

"Huh?!" she stood back up.

"Why such a big act of kindness?" Monkey raised an eyebrow, suspecting some funny business going on.

"We-well, she's-"

"Hey you!"

He turned around and looked outside the shop to see three soldiers.

"Are you Sun Wukong?" one of them asked.

He narrowed his eyes and walked out to face them.

"Yeah," he casually said, leaning his head slightly backwards. "what about it?"

"What's the problem?" (Y/n) asked as she joined him outside.

The guards looked at each-other before looking back at them.

"Follow us please."

"Okay. Just let me change firs-"

"Immediately. It is of an urgent matter."

They exchanged a confused glance. (Y/n) quickly grabbed her clothes and shoved them in her bag before the two of them followed the soldiers to the lord's house. As the door opened, the band walked out as they walked in.

"Guys, what happened?" she asked as they walked passed each-other.

"We don't know!" Jia whispered in slight panic. "The guy just heard your names and he-" but there wasn't enough time to explain further as they departed soon after, the door closing behind them.

"What did you do this time?" she asked Monkey, who seemed to be thinking deeply.

"Nothing! I'm trying to remember but..." he trailed off. "Nope, that time I was a good little demon-ass-kicking paragon."

"I bet you misunderstood the situation and tried to seduce the lord's wife." she puffed a chuckle.

"For your information: I would transform into a lady and seduce the husbands."

"That doesn't make it any better and you know it."

After that ice-breaker, they reached the dinning room, where the lord and his family were all sitting at a long table with a large variety of food that made (Y/n)'s mouth water. As soon as they stepped in, some family members and some servants gasped, but all had a look of shock on their face. But what she found weird was the fact that they didn't seem to be looking at Monkey. The lord stood up with a pained smile.

"Oh my dear sweet (Y/n), how you've grown to look like your mother."

Her expression fell and Monkey looked at her with the same shocked expression.

"...I'm sorry what?"


	9. Protecting those we care for

"I-I'm sorry but..." she stuttered in her confusion. "There must be a misunderstanding, this is my first time here in this city."

"Oh, of course." the lord shook his head. "You were just a few days old when you were kidnapped-"

"Kidnapped?!"

"Well, not exactly. Why don't you and your..." he trailed off when he finally noticed Monkey. "friend, join us for lunch? I have a lot to tell you."

(Y/n) and Monkey sat beside the lord as the other people at the table quickly made space for them. The servants placed their plates in front of them and offered them a dish made of chicken.

"No thank you." she raised a hand and shook her head. "We're vegetarian."

"Do you have some peach soup?" Monkey asked.

"Why of course, we'd never run out of our family recipe."

"Then bring me your entire stock at once!" he hit the table with a large smile.

As soon as the dozen of pots were within his reach, he grabbed one and started sipping as if his stomach was bottomless. (Y/n) however was not in the mood for eating.

"Dear (Y/n), what happened to your beautiful cyan eyes?" the lord asked. "What did they do to you out there?"

She didn't respond and just looked at him.

"Well it doesn't matter. What matters is that you are here and you are okay."

"...Are you my biological father?"

He laughed.

"I am your uncle."

She blinked twice, just as surprise with this turn of event than she would be with any other. She opened her mouth but no words came out. The lord continued as he and everyone else ate.

"For you see (Y/n), long before you were born, your father, my dear older brother, was best friend with a commoner. But this commoner was special," he paused. "he was the previous reincarnation of Golden Cicada."

Monkey raised his eyebrows, but didn't react further and kept enjoying his third pot of soup with delight.

"And because he was the chosen one, we let him get access to a life of luxury and protection from the demons that would try and capture him. But despite everything my family's done for him, he wished to avoid his responsibilities and left the city, to look for a way to pass on his powers to someone else. He left for a few days, during which your mother gave birth to you." he smiled at her. "I was only able to see you once, but you were *adorable*!" his smile became fainter. "But, that scum, he passed his powers onto you. And-" he covered his mouth with his sleeve as he closed his eyes and turned away. 

Some family members looked at him with the same pained expression. (Y/n) patiently waited while Monkey was unfazed by what was happening and reached for his seventh pot of soup. Finally, the lord looked back at her.

"As it turned out, we had some under-covered traitors within our servants. Only a day following your birth, demons attacked your parents' house. Thankfully you were saved just in time but..." he sighed. "Once you were escorted outside, we had no choice but to burn down the house to kill the demons, with your parents' bodies inside."

She let out a sigh, feeling empathy for the lord and his family. Some of them stopped eating and quietly comforted each-other.

"I'm so sorry." she looked down.

"They were very beloved by the people." he nodded. "And having you alive was truly a blessing. Sadly, it didn't last very long." his eyebrows twitched into a frown. "As soon as this coward came back, he left again and just because he was your god-father he took you with him. I of course did everything I could to try to find you, to find this vermin and punish him. I sent my men to the four cardinal points, but I couldn't find neither of you. Although I did caught wind of the fact that he became a monk in a little village in the middle of nowhere."

(Y/n) felt her heart sink like a stone in the water, her expression fell and she became unaware of the world around her.

"He was...? He knew...?" she inaudibly whispered. "All along...?"

"Tell me (Y/n), where were you all those years? How did you managed to escape him? I must know what happened to him."

"He's dead."

The room became silent, everyone except Monkey fixed her as she stared at nothing in particular. Then, a collective sigh of relief snapped her back to reality and she saw that now everyone was smiling and eating at their heart's content. The now more cheery mood contradicting her feelings made her feel uneasy.

"Well thank the gods above!" the lord raised his hands with a large smile. "The world is now rid of that wretch!"

"What." her fists clenched.

"It's been twenty years has it not? How I feel sorry for you to have to deal with such a horrible man for such a long time." he reached and lightly tapped her shoulder. "It is curious how he decided to become a monk, since he's always been so keen on avoiding and rejecting any responsibility. He probably became one of those corrupted ones, I was afraid he'd turn you into one of his kind. Running away like this after killing his best friend, he really is a coward-."

"My father was not a coward!!!" she yelled and smashed her fists on the table, making everyone jump in surprise, even Monkey.

For a long moment, nobody talked nor moved, all eyes were on her.

"(Y/n)..." the lord broke the silence. "He wasn't your father."

The rage on her face only became more apparent. She stood up and walked out, slamming the door behind her. Monkey turned to the lord and said a single word full of sarcasm.

"Smooth."

In such a grand place, (Y/n) knew she couldn't find the exit until she asked someone, and she didn't feel like talking right now so instead she wandered angrily for a while until she reached the courtyard. She sat on a bench, now alone, her eyebrows furrowed. She took out her old monkey doll and just looked down at it, gently caressing its head with her thumb. She felt a lot of things at the moment but conflicted would be a good word for it.

A while later, Monkey found her and saw what she was doing. He cleared his throat and she flinched, turning her head towards him while trying to hide the doll.

"It's not because it's you-!"

"I know." he calmly said as he walked up to her. "You don't have to explain yourself."

She went quiet again and relaxed. Monkey sat beside her and handed her a bowl of soup while he pretended to look around the garden.

"I saved some for you, I realized I almost finished all of it without sharing."

She smiled.

"Thanks." she placed the doll on her lap and took the bowl, smelled the soup's aroma before taking a sip. "Mmh!" her eyes widen. "That's crazy good!"

Monkey smiled, but it soon faded. 

"You okay?"

She stopped drinking and put the bowl aside, her expression grim again.

"I don't know, I don't know what to make of all of this." she ran a hand through her hair. "I thought...I thought I knew him, but it's true that I knew nothing of his past. The lord, it's like he was talking about a completely different person. My father was always so protecting -although now I understand why- and always a stickler for rules and order. I-" she shrugged and sighed, slowly shaking her head.

"...you know, that last resort thing, passing on your powers? People seem to have a misconception about it." he rested his forearms on his lap. "It's completely random, you don't get to choose which baby gets your powers. So just so you know: you weren't a target in this."

"But still, the fact that he'd do it..."

Monkey thought for a moment and turned towards her.

"Hey," he said. "look at me."

She did and yelped when his face was suddenly very close from her face, their nose almost touching. She leaned back as he leaned closer, looking intensely into her eyes as if he was looking for something.

"Wha-why-you-Monkey!" she blushed at the proximity.

"Mmh, that's what I thought." he finally sat back, she let out a big sigh of relief. "You got a curse put on your eyes."

"Huh?"

"It must've been there for a big part of your life so it almost became natural, that's why I couldn't see it until I got up close. That's what's making your eyes (e/c)." he pointed at them. "That's one mystery solved."

'Feels very bittersweet of an accomplishment.' she thought.

"A curse...?"

"It's not necessarily a bad thing." he shrugged. "Without it, demons would've attacked you on sight and our journey would've been *way* more of a pain."

A moment of silence passed.

"Now," he faced forward. "I don't know the first thing about this guy you call your dad. But it's safe to assume he was the one who put that curse on you." she looked up at him. "Why? You tell me, you knew him better than anyone here."

(Y/n)'s mind became a bit clearer at those last words. It's true that she didn't know the person her father was in the past. But Monkey was right. She's known him for the last twenty years of his life, during which he was stern but kind and caring. That's what mattered. She smiled.

"Thanks Monkey."

"Yeah, you're welcome. Now eat your soup before I eat it for you."

Their conversation became livelier as she finished her bowl, truly the best thing she's ever eaten.

"By the way, what are you gonna do?" Monkey asked. "Because now that you're 'back home', the lord's place is technically yours, along with the city."

"Huh." she tilted her head. "I haven't thought about that."

"Excuse me?" 

They turned over to see an elderly woman walking up to them and bowing. (Y/n) recognized her as one of the servants in the dinning room.

"My lady's uncle asks for my lady to speak with him privately."

"Oh, sure." she put the bowl aside, put the doll back inside her bag and went up to her.

The woman seemed to hesitate a moment, her eyes darting around, then she groaned.

"I can't stay silent!" she looked up at her. "The lord and his family are always antagonizing your god-father but I know-" she stopped herself, realizing the volume of her voice.

"What do you mean?"

She quickly looked around and leaned closer.

"Twenty years ago, I used to be your nanny you see. I was cleaning the ashes from the fire when he came back..."

_His bag and walking stick slipped through his hands and dropped on the floor. Where the house once stood, there was now nothing but ashes and a few planks of burned wood. He was completely stunned for a moment before he noticed the nanny and ran up to her, his pale face startling her._

_"What happened?! Where's the lord and his wife?!"_

_It took her a moment to reply, she frowned and backed away._

_"Because you passed on your powers unto their innocent child, demons attacked them! Because all the soldiers used to guard you, they couldn't come to their rescue in time and didn't even had time to get the bodies out, they had to burn down the house to kill the demons with them still inside! You cruel cruel monster!" she yelled, her eyes growing teary._

_"What? I didn't- I'm not- I didn't know! I-!"_

_It was then she noticed the look in his now dark brown eyes. Shock, regret, grief, sadness, she could see it all, and she could tell it was genuine._

_"What about the baby?" he quietly asked. "Are they also...?" he couldn't finish his sentence._

_"...Her name is (Y/n)." she said. "She looks like her mother and she's a very healthy baby."_

_He sighed of relief._

_She took him to see the three-day-old child. He looked down at her as she was taking a nap, peacefully unaware of the tragedy that occurred. He extended a hand but quickly retracted it._

_"I have to wash my hands!" he said as he rushed out of the room while also trying not to make noises._

_The nanny couldn't help but chuckled. When he came back, he gently caressed her head._

_"Can I...?"_

_She picked her up and slowly handed her to him. With the upmost cautioned, he held her in his arms. He smiled, but the nanny could tell there was a painful sadness behind it._

_"She's beautiful."_

_"Yes, she is."_

_They both admired her for a short while. The baby squirmed a little bit and opened her eyes, their bright cyan color made him froze. He bit his bottom lip as tears quietly flowed down his face, he hunched over a bit._

_"I'm sorry." he whispered with a shaky voice. "I'm so sorry."_

_"...When she was born, her father said that he wished you could see her. He also said that he wanted you to be her god-father."_

_He looked at her, then back at the baby. A few seconds passed. Then, a more determined look formed on his face._

_"I don't want her to be like me." he said. "No way she'll end up like me. Everyday having to deal with attacks from demons, and eventually hating your gift. No way." he looked at the nanny and nodded. "Thank you." then he ran out with the baby and her blanket._

"People said it was an act of pure evil, but they weren't there, they didn't see the look on his face." she continued. "To be honest, I was always conflicted about whether or not I should've stopped him. Running away like that with no experience on how to care for a child." she shook her head. "But, seeing you now has lifted a huge weight on my heart."

(Y/n) smiled.

"I'm glad. Thank you so much for telling me." she bowed before walking inside.

Both the nanny and Monkey followed her with their eyes.

"Look at her, she's grown to be such a polite and pretty woman." she sighed. "I'm sure her god-father did his very best to raise her well."

"...I'm sure he did yeah." he nodded, smiling. "And he succeeded."

"You asked to see me?" (Y/n) asked as she walked into the lord's office, closing the doors behind her.

"Ah, my dear sweet niece!" he smiled and stood up from his chair. 

"Before you say anything, I want to apologize." she bowed. "I left dinner without explaining myself and didn't even eat anything. I eventually tasted your soup, it was delicious."

"Thank you very much." he nodded, walking around his desk and faced her. "(Y/n), now that we know you're alive and well, my position is yours, given that you're my older brother's heir."

"Right...about that," she pointed at him at the word 'right'. "I understand that I was born here and that we are of the same blood. But I have my own life, I've had it for twenty years. I'm no nobility, even this hanfu gets a bit uncomfortable at some point." she looked down at her outfit. "I may have been kidnapped, and the man who gave me my powers may have been reckless. But he raised me well, he educated me, and he saved my life. That man was my father. I am not apologizing for shouting at you after you insulted him." her expression became more decisive as she talked. "Whatever blood we share, it means nothing to me."

The lord was surprised, like he couldn't believe what she was saying.

"S-so..." he hesitated. "Are you saying you're not going to-"

"Let me finish please." she raised her hand. "However, I want to right the wrongs my father did in the past. I am taking the place of lord, but I have a mission to go back to. So when I'm done with that, I'll come back here and we can discuss this further. Until then, I want you to keep leading the city. Thank you for your time." she bowed and turned back.

She opened the door but the lord suddenly shut them close again and quickly locked them.

"You had to keep going."

"Huh?" 

"You had to accept my place. If only you've taken after that scrum and ran away like he did." he took a knife out of his sleeve. "Now I have to go back to my initial plan and kill you!"

(Y/n) gasped and ran the other direction. She stood behind the desk as they were now running around the table. She tried to throw anything within her reach at him but he'd deflect them everytime.

"You still get to be lord! What is wrong with you?!"

"Second place?! Please! You being kidnapped was a blessing in disguise!" he jumped on the table with a twisted smirk. "And now that you're back, I refuse to be shoved in the background while my brother's heir gets all the glory! Did you know that the day I became lord was the day of your parents' funeral?! They stole my moment! It was supposed to be my moment!" 

He jumped on her, but she held her necklace and conjured a barrier to block his attack. While he fell back, she grabbed a chair and swung it towards the door, hoping they'd open. They didn't, she wasn't strong enough. Cursing to herself, she quickly made it to the window and looked down. Her heart sunk when she saw what being on the third floor looked like.

"Hehehe!" she turned around as the lord stood up and charged towards her, brandishing his knife.

He was too fast for her to get away. Her panic grew, tightening her chest, she didn't know what else to do. She closed her eyes and shouted:

"Monkey!!!"

The lord was only a step away from her when he was suddenly kicked from outside, sending him flying to the other side of the room. She felt a hand on her shoulder, she opened her eyes and looked up. Monkey was entering the room with a foot still on the window sill, one hand bringing her close to his chest and the other pointing his staff towards the lord.

"Sorry to bring it to you," he smirked. "but this lady here isn't interested in your political drama."

The lord clumsily stood up.

"Why you-!"

"Hold that thought." 

Still pointing his staff at him, he escorted (Y/n) towards the doors. He opened them like it was nothing, breaking the lock in the process. And gently pushed her out of the office.

"Give me just a second." he smiled before closing the doors.

She blinked twice before she smiled and sighed with a hand on her chest, relieved.

Meanwhile, with Monkey's back turned, the lord jumped towards him. He turned around.

"And that's what happened." (Y/n) finished explaining to the former lord's family as he was sitting on the floor in front of her, beat up and tied up.

He glanced back at Monkey who was playing with the knife he took from him, balancing the end of the blade on his fingertip. Monkey noticed and suddenly pointed the knife at him. He flinched and curled up in fear, making him cackle with a smug look on his face.

"I cannot believe it!" "His big brother would never do something so cruel!" "To do that to your own niece when she just came back after being missing for twenty years!" "Scum!" the family kept shaming him.

"I think he got it." (Y/n) calmly said, shutting them up. "I'm not injured, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be punished."

"What will his punishment be my lady?" a soldier asked.

"I'm not gonna be the one who punishes him. I told you, I'm not taking his place, I have my own business to take care of."

"But someone needs to lead the city." the oldest family member said. "You must choose someone, preferably someone with experience. This sounds like a job for an older fatter man."

She just sent him a weird look. She thought for a second and looked around.

"Nanny." she called out and gestured her to get closer.

The woman gasped, looking very happy to be called that, and walked up to her.

"Who do you think would do the job?" she quietly asked.

"Um...Probably your youngest uncle, he would sneak out to help the poor in a more efficient way than his brother's program."

"Oh, so I have two uncles." she looked back at her biological family. "Alright, my youngest uncle will replace me while I'm gone."

The man in question softly gasped and pointed at himself, with stars in his eyes. 

"My younger brother?! Come on!" the former lord whined. "Am I cursed to either stay in someone else's shadow or having my place stolen from me?!"

"Shut up!" Monkey kicked him.

"Everyone okay with that?" (Y/n) asked, ignoring him.

Everybody nodded, the new lord seemed to be very touched by this. 

"Good, we'll be going now. Farewell~." she turned around and waved as she walked towards the exit. "Don't destroy the city while I'm gone."

"Tchao." Monkey flicked his wrist and followed her, his staff on both his shoulders and the back of his neck.

Dishi, Jia and the others have been waiting in front of the house ever since they left. As soon as (Y/n) and Monkey walked out, they rushed over and asked them what in the world happened and if they were okay. (Y/n) explained and received a big hug from Jia and the twins. They still had their own pot of soup and because she didn't ate much and Monkey's always down to eat, after she changed back to her normal clothes, they all sat together in a corner of the market square and shared the soup.

"Oh my lord! (Y/n)!" Monkey smacked his forehead, realizing something. "You could've asked for the recipe!"

"Oh! Dammit!" she smacked her own forehead. "Well we can go back."

"You can't come back after making a cool exit, are you insane?!"

"Do you want the soup or not?!"

"Not at the expense of credibility! Without class, skill means nothing remember? That applies to this too!"

"So here, the skill here is the soup?" she laughed, not understanding one bit.

He groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Well if anything, this is another good motivation to get to Guan Yin's island as soon as possible. Once we're done, we go back, get the recipe and it's unlimited peach soup for us!"

"We better hurry up then!"

The two of them started drinking faster, the others laughed.

"By the way, I haven't thanked you for saving me earlier." she smiled. "Thanks Wukong."

He suddenly turned towards her with big eyes. After a short moment of speechlessness, he cringed and lightly pushed her.

"Ew, don't do that!"

She couldn't help but laugh.

"What? It's your name."

"Yeah, but I'm used to 'Monkey' by now. Hearing you calling me by my actual name feels weird."

"Alright, I'll stick with 'Monkey' then." she smiled, happy to keep calling him by her nickname as well.

Dishi and Jia glanced at each-other.

"You guys are going back?" (Y/n) asked when they all left the city.

Jia nodded.

"Now that we got paid for our gig, we're going back home."

"I wish you could come with us, but it's way too dangerous and-"

"Nope! No way!" Monkey shook his head. "I already have enough on my plate playing bodyguard with her! I'm not taking care of five more just because they have horses!"

"...You know what I mean." she smiled.

"That's okay. You be careful out there!" 

"You should come visit us when you come back!" Wei exclaimed.

"Or maybe we'll run into each-other again when we have another gig!" his brother added.

"Stop agitating the carriage will you?!" Dishi said from the driver seat. "You'll knock it over!" he looked at her. "Be safe, and trust each-other. Communication is key."

They both tilted their head in confusion when he started the carriage. They all waved and yelled goodbye, except Monkey and Dishi of course. And with that, they parted ways.

Lim sighed, leaning back.

"I'll miss them."

"That was an encounter for sure!" Jia smiled. "They were pretty cute together."

"Huh?!" her three companions looked at her like she was crazy.

"You guys wouldn't get it." she shrugged. "You're singles."

"Don't they remind you of another couple?" Dishi smiled. 

"Who?"

He paused and glanced back at her. She tilted her head.

"...Really?"

"What couple?"

"Nevermind." he looked back at the road.

"Dishi! Tell me!"

It was then this grumpy old man realized: he and his dear wife were their own couple of their own idiocy.


	10. Oh.

During their break, (Y/n) asked Monkey if he could teach her meditation, for real this time.

"It's weird to me that you can conjure barriers yet you don't know how to meditate." he said. "It's the basic of basics"

"Maybe it's the perk of being Golden Cicada's reincarnation."

They both sat down face to face.

"So," he started. "when you use your powers, you have to concentrate all of your energy into this one spot. And meditation helps doing that. For example when I use my iron arm, I concentrate on my arm."

"What about when you transform? Or when you create an illusion?"

"That's next level. For now let's focus on your chi flow."

He extended a hand, gesturing towards her own. She gave it to him and he held it down, palm facing up.

"To start: try to feel your hand from the inside."

"From the inside?"

"M-hmm, close your eyes and try."

She closed her eyes as he let go. A moment passed.

"Yeah I feel it."

"What does it feel like?"

"...Fuzzy."

"Fuzzy?"

"I don't know," she opened her eyes. "it just feels like chi."

"Okay, now try to feel both of your hands at the same time. Transfer that feeling."

"Okay...?" she looked down at them.

"And now feel your legs...Then your whole being." he position himself and closed his eyes. "And as you concentrate on that feeling, start meditating. Let it sink in."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah. That's the first step."

She imitated him, forming a small circle with her hands and closing her eyes. Just as she did that, Monkey reopened his and just looked at her in total stillness and silence. The wind gently blew, a butterfly slowly flew by, the sun was blocked by a bird for a split second, still Monkey didn't move. It was only when (Y/n) cleared her throat that he realized what he was doing. Habits die hard after all. He frowned and stood up.

"How long do I have to do this exactly?" she asked after a while.

Hearing no response, she opened her eyes and saw Monkey laying down under the shades of a nearby tree, his hands behind his head.

"What the hell Monkey?!"

"Sorry, got bored." he casually said.

Now feeling like an idiot for just sitting there for ten whole minutes, she stood up and walked up to him.

"Geez, were you also acting like this when Tripitaka meditated-?"

"It doesn't matter!"

She was taken aback by his sudden shouting. He also seemed surprise by the volume of his own voice. He sighed and stood up.

"Can we go already?" he asked as he picked his ear. "I gotta get a move on or else I'll die of boredom. Man, is there no demons nearby? I could have a good ass-kicking workout right about now."

(Y/n) watched as he began walking away.

'Maybe he doesn't like it when other people use Tripitaka's name, especially against him.' she thought, following him. 'I can relate to that.'

The sun was starting to set, but there was no city and no village in sight. The two companions were ready to sleep outside when they stumbled upon a single house in the middle of nowhere. It looked old and abandoned. (Y/n) knocked a few times, even called out asking for shelter, but no response. They exchanged a look before Monkey let himself in.

"Stay close." he said as she followed him. "In case the floorboards collapse."

She briefly glanced down in panic.

"I wasn't worried about that before but now..."

The house seemed completely empty. There were old furniture, everything was very dusty and a bit rusty, it was clear this place has been here for a while. There was a pond in the backyard and any little creaky noise made her jump, which ticked off Monkey a bit. At some point, as they were exploring an office, a pile of books placed on top of each-other fell down, they probably finally lost their balance after being like this for years and years. She yelped and clung unto Monkey's arm, he flinched at the sudden move and glared at her.

"Could you not? Chill." he shook his arm to make her let go. "You're scared or something?"

"No!" she folded her arms. "I'm just being cautious."

He raised an eyebrow, skeptical.

"You're never too cautious - Especially in a place like this!" she added, gesturing around them.

He just sighed and went back to exploring.

Just then she noticed a little mouse in a corner of the room, disappearing into a hole in the wall as soon as it noticed her noticing it. It made her relieved that it wasn't anything supernatural that was making those noises.

"It sure seems empty." she said after they search almost the entire house.

"Yeah, but it's weird." Monkey narrowed his eyes. "If it's been abandoned for a while, passerby's would've surely taken some furniture. But it doesn't look like anything's missing."

"Not everyone's a thief you know."

"Or maybe..." he slowly looked back at her. "Someone, or some*thing* is already in this house."

She tensed up but soon frowned when he snickered at her reaction. 

"Ah~." he sighed. "Come on now, let's check out the basement."

"Huh?! Why the basement?"

"Because that's where all the spooky stuff happens, and there's no attic so~." he opened a door leading to a set of stairs descending into darkness. "Ladies first." he bowed with a large smile.

"Okay." she waited for a moment. "...You're not going?"

"I-Mmh! You know what?!" he pointed at her. "I'll take that as a compliment." he said before walking in as (Y/n) shook her head and followed him.

"Can you see in the dark?" she asked, as he seemed unbothered by the growing darkness while she had to put a hand on the wall and walk carefully so as to not trip.

"Kinda, better than humans at least."

"Alright." she reached and wanted to take a hold of his tunic but grabbed his tail instead.

"Wha-Hey!" he suddenly turned around and grabbed her wrist, making her let go. "You don't just grab somebody's tail. That's rude." he sternly said as he leaned a bit closer.

"Sorry! I was going for your clothes."

She could see Monkey's glowing red eyes narrow before he let go of her.

"You can just go back upstairs if you're not comfortable in the dark."

"Says you?! Are you sure *you* won't be uncomfortable being alone in the dark?!"

He glared at her.

"Go back upstairs already!" he huffed and turned around. "I don't want you clinging unto me out of nowhere again!"

"It wasn't not out of nowhere!"

He just ignored her and kept going down the stairs. She hesitated before going back upstairs.

"Do you see anything?" she called out, looking down by the doorway.

"Nothing much." she heard him say. "Except maybe... Wait..." she leaned closer as he paused. "Oh my lord what is that?!?!?!"

"What?! What?!"

Monkey cackled and she realized he was messing around yet again. She frowned and planned on punching him when he comes back. Finally he sighed.

"There is something there though." he said.

A moment passed.

"Oh damn!" he exclaimed in delight.

"What?"

"Yes! Finally!" 

"What?!"

Instead of answering, Monkey hopped back up the stairs holding a big barrel and with a big smile on his face.

"Alcohol~!" he said, happily balancing the barrel on his head. 

She sighed in front of his childishness, but she was also relieved it wasn't anything serious.

Now that they've inspected the whole house, they picked a room to sleep in. 

"We're partying tonight!" Monkey opened the barrel and filled two glasses he picked up on the way. "I haven't had alcohol in ages!"

"I haven't had alcohol ever."

"Never?!" he looked at her with big eyes.

"I mean, I was raised in a monastery." she shrugged.

"Yeah but you're not a monk. You poor poor woman!"

"You don't have to say it twice." she mumbled.

"Worry not." he smirked and handed her a glass. "Sun Wukong, Monkey King, King of Partying, will show the ways of having a blast."

"Kinda weird to have a party with only two people." she took it.

"As long as you're having a blast, it's a party, period!"

She smiled and watched as he drank his glass in one go.

"Oh yeah~!" he exhaled. "That's some fine wine right there!" he looked at the ceiling. "Thank you old owners of this house for leaving us your booze!"

He turned towards (Y/n) to see her inspecting the wine and smelling it.

"Don't hesitate," he said. "just go for it. And don't mind the smell."

"Okay..."

She pinched her nose and drank a few sips before coughing. Monkey laughed.

"Bah~!" she sticked her tongue out. 

"It is stronger than most wine I've drank." he smiled. "But I do believe you're overreacting there."

"Wait." she held up her hand and waited a moment. "The aftertaste is pretty good." she smiled.

"That's what I'm talking about!" he lightly slapped his knee. "Now it's time to game!"

"Game?"

"Drinking games!"

"Is it going to be rock-paper-scissors again?"

"Mmh..." he scratched his chin, thinking. "Rock-paper-scissors drinking game. Not a bad idea." he pointed at her, smiling. "I'll submit that to the council later."

"Council?" she blinked twice, confused at the idea of a game/drinking game/rock-paper-scissors council, she already had a lot of questions but Monkey continued.

"You must know this one." he grabbed (Y/n)'s bag and took out the little salt box, then he placed it on the floor between the two of them. "The one where we each tap the box to the rhythm and it goes faster and faster and if you grab the box I have to close my fist?"

"Yeah I know it." she nodded.

"Well it's the exact same, but if you lose, you drink." he refilled their glasses. "Ready?"

"Ready to win."

He chuckled.

"Come on. Five, six, seven, eight."

And so, they played a dozen rounds of this. The score was pretty even, with (Y/n) winning by only two points. The two of them were already getting tipsy. Monkey of course would never accept defeat and proposed some other game, which he won this time. But (Y/n) would never accept defeat and proposed some other game. Suddenly, they heard a noise. Sounded like a furniture being pushed.

"What~?!" Monkey put his hand to his ear like he was an old man.

"Monkey!" she hit him on the arm. "Something is moving!"

"What?! Let's go check it out!" he stood up and rushed out of the room.

"Hey! Wait fo' me!" she clumsily followed him. 

It was clear here which one could hold alcohol and which one was struggling. He could still speak clearly while she was starting to become a mumbling mess.

They followed the sound to the kitchen, which stopped as soon as they walked in. The table, before against the wall, was now at the center of the room. Monkey looked around as (Y/n) walked closer and placed a hand on the table.

"It wasn' there befo' right?" she turned towards him.

"Huh." he put his hands on his hips. "Guess I was right."

"What you mean?"

"We're not alone here."

Before she could ask what he meant, they heard noise again. Monkey smiled.

"Come on!" he said as he ran out.

"Monkey~!" she followed him and almost stumbled on her own feet.

They arrived in their room again. The barrel has moved and was a lot closer to the wall now. He laughed while (Y/n) panted with her hand on her knees.

"I knew it!"

"But we..." she stood straight, taking one last deep breath before speaking. "But we searched the whole house, they were no demons."

"I'm not talking about demons." he smirked. "I'm talking about...ghosts~!"

She suddenly tensed up, bringing her hands close to her chest. He snickered.

"It's not funny!"

"It is kinda funny. You're scared of ghosts."

"Am not~!"

'I see she's the kind of people that turns into a kid when they're drunk.' he thought.

"It's not so bad." he walked over to get the barrel for himself. "I'm just curious why they're not joining us. Hey!" he exclaimed as he looked around. "If you want to drink, you can join us and we'll share with you!"

"Don't talk to it!"

"It? That's rude (Y/n). Ghosts are people too."

"No they're not! Not anymore, that's the whole point!"

"Don't mind her ghost!" he turned away. "She's drunk and she doesn't go out much!"

For a moment, they didn't talk and waiting for some kind of response. But there was only silence.

"Ooo~," he looked at her. "you made 'em angry."

"Don't say that!"

"Do you know how to pacify ghosts?"

"No." she looked down.

"Isn't it something you learn at monasteries?"

"We didn't have ghosts, why would I go to that class?"

"You skipped class?! (Y/n)! You were a bad kid?!"

"I wasn' even a real student!"

"Well maybe you'll do it by accident like Tripitaka did once." he laughed, a hand on his forehead. "On accident, can you believe it?! How do you even do that!" he laughed some more and sighed. "Anyway, ghost! Please reveal your name to us! My name is Sun Wukong, the Great the Amazing the Mighty the Handsome. Uh...and that's (Y/n)."

She just hummed in distress.

"Tell us ghost, what is your name? Are you mad? Are you sad? Are you glad, what's your deal?"

Silence. (Y/n) slightly hunched over, ready to cling unto Monkey at any sudden fourniture mouvement.

"Geez, take your time why don't you." he frowned.

In his growing impatience, he took his glass and dug into the barrel to serve himself a full glass. Just then, they heard something falling.

"That was from office!" he exclaimed and ran out as he drank his glass, taking the barrel with him.

(Y/n) just power-walked her way through, feeling that running would upset her stomach. When she walked in, she could tell Monkey didn't get to see the ghost since he clicked his tongue and looked ticked off. Looking around, she noticed a few books knocked off the shelf, and one of them was placed open on top of the desk. She took a closer look.

"Look!" she pointed at it. "Weird specific stuff!"

He stood beside her and leaned over. He moved her hand out of the way first, since instead of pointing, it was simply covering almost the whole page. Now with a clear view, he saw that there were a few scratches throughout the page. He scratched his chin and picked up the book. Those scratches were way too tiny and specific to have just been formed with time, they were covering specific letters. Taking a quick look, there were no scratches in the rest of the book.

"Here." he handed the book (opened at the right page) back to (Y/n). "Try to figure out which letters were there."

"Wha'?! Why me~?!" she whined.

"Because I have better things to do." he said as he sat beside the barrel and filled his glass. "Besides, puzzles and word stuff were always Tripitaka's thing. Like he knows I can easily do it yet he insists on doing it. He says it's for making himself useful but I'm no idiot, I know he's a sucker for that stuff." he cackled. "So, for once, I'll be letting someone else do it. Especially with this baby right here there's no way I'm doing anything else." he drank his wine in one go.

(Y/n) whined some more for a while but since Monkey was completely unfazed, she eventually gave in. This exercise, though very simple, was giving her a headache. But the pain soon turned into horror when she deciphered this puzzle.

"Monkey! Monkey! Monkey~!" she clung unto him.

"Rah~! You almost made me spill my drink!" he pushed her away with his foot. "What?!"

She gestured towards the book in a panic.

"It's our names!"

"Really?" he removed his foot and took the book to look at the scratches, a moment passed. "Oh yeah. But why didn't the ghost..." he trailed off as he noticed he hasn't read all the letters yet.

"I think they started to say their name but then you interuptupte-mmh~." she held her temples.

Indeed, there was just only letter appart from the ones that formed their names: T. Monkey let his mind wander for a moment of hope but then he shook his head and stood up.

"Come on ghost-with-a-name-that-starts-with-a-T, we can't call you that! That's way too long!"

'And there's no way I can pronounce it right right now...' (Y/n) thought.

"Give us an actual name!"

Silence again, he groaned.

"Maybe they're shy...?" she said.

He groaned and placed the book back on the desk.

"Fine!" he took his barrel and (Y/n), dragging her behind him. "We will wait in the hallway for you to write your response! Give us a sign when you're done!"

They walked out and he closed the door behind them. Then they both sat down, facing each-other with their backs pressed on the opposite walls.

"God this is the most stubborn ghost I've ever seen! He better have a really cool name!"

"Stop screaming..." she quietly said and pressed a hand on his cheek, pushing it away while holding her head with her other hand.

"Right, sorry 'bout that. Here have some wine for your headache."

"No thanks. Don' think that'll help."

"I'll drink it for you then." he said as he chugged it in one go.

"Ohmylord, how's your stomach so strong~?"

He giggled for a bit too long. His drunkenness must've finally started to show.

"That's just who I am, I came out of the rock strong...It's not me who's strong, it's you who's weak."

"That's two differen' answers."

"Well, I am the word guy."

"I thought tha' was, uh...the other guy."

"We can share, it's cool."

She smiled. 

"Say...Do you dislike him?"

"Huh?"

"When you talk abou' him, it's eithe' neutral or you make fun of 'im. And the stories do tell about how he'd use the cursed crown against you all the time. So I was wonderin'."

"No, I can never hate him." he looked down, smiling. "Yeah he would sometimes act illogically, but he was truly the kindest person I've ever known, either it'd be for the best or to a fault - Like sometimes you want to just yell at him for being so gullible, but then he looks at you and smiles like nothing's going on in the world and you're like 'god...dammit!'" he paused. "I bet my peaches he knows! He knows and he used it with those merchants that one time to get a discount!" he huffed and folded his arms.

With this little monologue, (Y/n) didn't really know what to say. It was like when she asked him to describe Tripitaka with one word, but this time it was different. He wasn't just some funny venting. Before she could say anything, Monkey turned towards the door.

"Taking his sweet time huh." he stood up and gently knocked on the door. "Ghost~ you done yet?"

No response. Monkey glanced at (Y/n), who was massaging her temple, before opening the door.

"The hell?!"

"Wha'?" she looked up at him.

"The book's gone!" he walked in.

"Waiwaiwait Monkey!" she quickly stood up, almost falling in the process, and followed him inside. "Don't leave me alone with the ghost!"

She was about to hug his arm but refrained herself, she learned her lesson now. Monkey looked around and gagged.

"This jerk put it back on the shelf!" he exclaimed. "You know what?! Screw it!" he threw his arms in the air. "You wanna stay in your corner? Fine, just don't bother us anymore with your noise. It's getting late anyway, we're done ghost hunting. We'll deal with you after we're hungover tomorrow." they both walked out and Monkey picked up the barrel and balanced it on his head again. "I'm taking this with me it's open we gotta finish it it's mine now."

"Is uh...Is i' really okay?" (Y/n) asked, playing with her fingers. "Sleepin' with a ghost?"

"In what way? What do you mean?"

"Wha-The way where this place's haunted of course!"

"It'll be fine~," he waved his hand. "ghosts can't do much."

"But like...They can infiltrate your dreams."

"Then don't have dreams."

"Don' say it like that~ it's sad!" she whined.

Once they entered their room, they both froze, their expression fell and Monkey almost dropped the barrel as they both stared at the wall with big eyes. 

'TRIPITAKA' was written in black letters, a bottle of ink was placed on the floor right below it. The ghost must've taken it from the office.

"Oooohohohokay!" (Y/n) broke the silence, smiling out of her feeling of freaking the hell out.

Monkey walked up to the writing on the wall and carefully set the barrel down.

"...Master?" he quietly said before a large smile formed on his face. "Master~! I had a feeling it was you! Thought you could play tricks on your disciple! Haha! That's great! 'Cause since you're not the chosen one or whatever, you don't have to stick to all those pointless rules anymore! You can finally relax and wind down with me! Come on," he sat down and filled both of the glasses, chugging his own in one go yet again. "let's share a drink together and talk about the good ol' days! Like our meditation sessions together! I still think it's pretty pointless but I didn't want to leave you alone Master - Oh! Remember that one time you caught me staring at you? But like come on, why would I keep my eyes closed? You could be gone just like that if I kept my guard down!"

(Y/n) walked closer, she stood beside him as he laughed to himself and kept talking, ignoring her. She couldn't help but believe that he was reaching a little bit throughout his monologue, like he was convinced that if he stopped talking, the ghost of his master would go away.

With her current state, the question just slipped out.

"Did you have feelings for Tripitaka?"

Monkey stopped talking. He stopped moving too. He slowly turned his head to look at her, an expression of complete disbelief on his face.

"...what?" he asked under his breath.

Just then did (Y/n) realize what she asked. She was taken aback by his sudden change of behavior. She's never seen him like this.

"N-no I-" he shook his head and looked down, putting down his glass. "He's my master of course I'd- I'm not-what?" he sighed sharply, he was clearly confused himself.

He placed his hands on his head and hunched over. (Y/n) was speechless, regretting to have asked.

"I'll...I'll go wash my face." she said and walked away.

She figured that Monkey needed some alone time right now.

She sat by the pond in the backyard and splashed her face with the cold water. Looking at the stars' reflection, she hoped Monkey would be okay. But she could feel her heart fill with a sad empathy for him.

After all, Tripitaka was a monk, monks aren't allowed to be in a relationship. So not only did Monkey lost someone very close to him, but he never figured out his own feelings for him, and even if he did, it would've been in vain. How tragic.

"It's so sad~." she quietly said, feeling a tear in the corner of her eye.

Just then, she heard someone groaning and mumbling to themselves, but it didn't sound like Monkey. Wiping her tear away, she stood up and walked up to a window where the voice came from. In a room stood a mouse demon, and he looked angry.

"They're still drinking my wine!" he said to himself, bitting his nails in frustration. "Well at least I have Sun Wukong in the pocket. Kukuku~ who knew he'd become such a weak emotional monkey? I'll just keep pretending to be his master and tell him to leave the barrel alone. The human...?" he thought for a second. "Well if everything else fails I guess I'll just eat her. I'm sure she'll go well with the wine."

(Y/n) didn't waste any second and ran back to Monkey. He calmed down, but now he just looked sad, still drinking. That is, until he jumped in surprise when she busted in.

"Monkey!" she ran up to him but then stumbled on her own foot and fell down. 

"What?" he asked, his back facing her.

"There's...There's no ghost!" she raised her head to look at him. "It was the mouse all along! It's a demon!"

Monkey crushing his glass his hand. He took one deep breath before standing up.

"Monkey...?" she sat up.

He didn't respond. Without looking at her, we walked out in the backyard. She followed him and watched and he found a rock that was as big as her, picked it up, and head-butted it, crushing it into pieces. 

He'd do that sometimes whenever he was drunk and needed a clear mind. He turned towards her.

"Step away from the house." he spoke with a clear voice.

She didn't question him and did as he say. He walked in, closing the back door behind him. Now alone and at a safe distance, she sat on the grass, hoping he won't take too long. She knew it wasn't going to be pretty.

After retrieving her bag and putting it around his shoulder, Monkey started right away and destroyed everything he came across. Even though the house was very easy to break down, he put all his energy into his attacks, shouting from the top of his lungs. Incoherent screams of rage. Nothing was spared: no plank was left intact, no pillar was left standing, no roof was left to cast a shadow, everything must become dust. This was the most uneven battle he's ever fought and yet to him, this was a complete and utter defeat. And the fact that a simple mouse demon made him like this only fueled this crushing feeling of anger and shame. And it was fueled even more when he finally saw that demon, turned into a mouse, trying desperately to flee. He grabbed him with so much force that he turned back into his original form. A rotent, dirt beneath his feet, a piece of trash that no one will ever cry for. Everything must become dust. 

Monkey walked back to (Y/n). He handed her her bag, thankfully the blood he was covered in didn't stain it. With shaky hands, she took it back. They looked at each-other, he had a stoic, almost cold expression while she was obviously overwhelmed.

"Monkey...you-" she started to say but then puked on the ground.

Monkey sighed through his nose and held up her hair.

"Don't hold back, it'd be worst for your stomach."

After a while, she passed out from both the alcohol and her tiredness. After washing the blood away, he picked her up and laid her down with her blanket.

The next day, (Y/n) was woken up by the sunlight shining in her face. She groaned and rubbed her face, feeling her first hungover. She came to a conclusion that she will never do this again. She sat up and saw Monkey eating his breakfast, behind him was what remained of the house. It didn't look like he slept much. He noticed her and paused in his meal.

"Hey...about last night-"

"Woah! What happened to the house?!" she exclaimed. 

He blinked twice.

"You...don't remember?"

"Uh..." she held her head. "I remember winning at those drinking games..." she paused, expecting a witty response, even just a laugh, nothing. "And there was a ghost I think? Was there a ghost or did I just dream that part?"

"...Not a ghost." he kept eating. "Just a stupid demon doing a tasteless joke."

She didn't question him further. 

After their breakfast, they went back to the road once again. Walking being him, (Y/n)'s expression changed to one of sadness. She looked down at his hand and started to slowly reach for it, but she stopped herself and quietly sighed.


	11. Grieving, but not alone

Ever since the "ghost" incident, neither of them talked, it was quiet as they walked through the meadow. Looking ahead, (Y/n) saw a landscape of hills, they must be close to the valley's end. She glanced at Monkey who was still looking straight ahead. There was no tension between them and yet she felt like the silence was pushing them apart by the seconds. She wanted to say something but found nothing to start a conversation with, a friendly one filled with both laugh and sarcasm like the ones they've had together before. How she wanted to go back to that. She quietly sighed and let her gaze wander.

"Oh! Look!" she pointed, happy to have found something. "A crane!"

Monkey looked over. There was indeed a crane. 

"I've never seen one before." she said.

He just looked forward again. (Y/n) wanted to tell him she heard that cranes were very spiritual birds and that they'd sometimes represent passed loved ones. But considering what happened, she didn't bring it up and kept observing the bird. It walked around through the tall grass, its head down, as if it was following something. She thought nothing of it at first but when it started to peck something and she heard a scream, she realized the crane was attacking someone.

"Hey!" she ran over to the bird and stood between it and the little old man it was attacking. "Shoo! Shoo!"

It looked unfazed by her but then Monkey came over and glared at it.

"Shoo." he pressed, and the bird flew away with a shriek.

"Are you okay sir?" (Y/n) asked, leaning over the old man with a concerned expression.

"Aouch~!" he held his head in pain but then shook his fist at the crane, flying high above them. "You damn bird! Ruining my daily stroll yet again! I don't care if you're symbolic I'll get you one day! And I'll round up that beak of yours see how you like me now!"

As he kept yelling, (Y/n) took a closer look at him and realized that he wasn't a human. He was too small, like half her size, his bald head looked like a turnip and his eyebrows were so hairy they covered his eyes.

"Excuse me but..." she asked, making him look at her. "Are you an Earth God by any chance?"

"I sure am!" he said as he picked up his cane.

She quickly bowed as soon as he said that.

"I'm honored sir."

"Finally some respect. Unlike *someone*!" he looked up at the crane. "Yeah that's right I'm talking to you!"

He went back to shouting and Monkey walked back to the road.

"Um, well." (Y/n) looked at him go before turning back to the God, bowing again. "Good day to you." she said before rushing back to her companion.

The old god watched her go and just then did he notice Monkey.

"Huh?! Hey!"

They both looked back but he wasn't there anymore. Suddenly, he appeared from the earth in a little cloud of smoke right in front of Monkey. (Y/n) yelped in surprise, but the two men didn't mind her.

"You're Sun Wukong aren't you?" he pointed at him with his cane, almost hitting his nose.

"Yeah. Why?" he said, pushing it aside.

"Oh~ finally!" he turned towards (Y/n). "Then you must be the new Golden Cicada."

The two companion exchanged a brief look of confusion before looking back at the old god.

"Uh...yeah? How do you-?"

"Great, wonderful!" he paused to look at her eyes. "Camouflage, smart. You're a clever one." he motioned a finger gun.

"Oh I didn't-

"More importantly, I have some stuff to give you."

"Stuff?" she blinked twice.

"Yes, the previous guy was supposed to have it, but he just wanted to learn the sutra of last resort and left right after that."

"Wait, you met my father?!" she leaned a bit closer to him.

"Your father?! Small world we live in." he smiled to himself before pointing ahead of the road. "I'll wait for you in my hills."

"Where in the hills exactly?"

"You'll find it, sometimes the spirit remembers." he tapped his temple with a smile right before disappearing into the earth once again.

Now alone, they both looked at each-other and shrugged before going back on the road. They had to go through the hills anyway so this wasn't a big change of plan.

"Do you seriously believe him?" Monkey asked.

"I'm not sure. He did meet my father, it won't hurt to see what he has to give me."

He hummed.

"Even if he was playing a trick, are Earth Gods powerful?" she asked.

"Depends. But with this guy? We'll be fine." he said. "Unless he's luring us to bigger more powerful baddies."

"Like an army of cranes?"

He puffed a smile. She smiled too, happy to have gotten that reaction out of him.

"Who knows." 

And the conversation ended.

'No~ keep talking!' she thought.

As they left the valley and the ground started to go slightly upwards, (Y/n) looked back and realized the vastness of the place. She admired the view, like she would do almost everyday back in her village. She could see the large clear shadows the clouds cast unto the valley, slowly moving with the gentle wind.

"What are you doing?" she heard Monkey behind her.

She slowly inhaled.

"Contemplating." she exhaled. "Never in my entire life did I think I would be travelling this far for this long."

"There will be a much longer way to go after you see Guan Yin."

"...I can still kind of retrace my steps." she said, drawing an invisible line on the landscape. "I wonder if I'll always be able to do that, to remember where I've been and who I've met."

There was a moment of silence. She sighed.

"I hope so at least." she said as she turned back and the two of them kept going. "I really hope so."

Once they've reached the top of one of the hills, Monkey took a long look around.

"Do you see him?" (Y/n) asked, sitting down to take a little break.

"Nope. That mole must still be in the ground."

"You can't call a god a mole!"

"I can, I just did." he kept looking and suddenly froze. "Wait."

She tilted her head.

"I've been here before."

"Really?" 

"It changed for sure but..." his eyes narrowed. "I think..." he then rushed down the hill.

"M-Monkey!" she called out, trying her best to follow him.

"Yes! I remember that tree!" he pointed at a big tree stump as he kept walking with decisive steps. "I took a nap there, it was still alive before!" he turned around, now walking backwards. "I think... The king stepped in from over there and I went for it but then they put the seal on me and I got knocked all the way over there to the mountains where I got trapped. Before that... I battled them over there. They tried to get me away but I kept my ground right there." he pointed at different spots in the sky as (Y/n) looked at him, confused. "Right!" he turned back, looking around. "I used my duplicates, took a bunch of them down, did a few poses and told a few awesome lines for aesthetics reasons, one of them transformed so I transformed too, took her down after beating the ones who wanted to sneak kill us because before all that we-!" he stopped.

(Y/n) stood beside him and looked at where he was staring. Covered in moss was a big broken statue of Buddha, almost unrecognizable now, there was also the ruins of a temple. She joined her hands and prayed. Monkey walked closer.

"...this is it." he said, placing a hand on the back of his shoulder as he looked down at a piece of stone representing a third of Buddha's face. "This is where we stopped for the night."

She felt her chest tightening as she figured what he was talking about. 

"Is this where...?" she began to say, but stopped herself.

She didn't want to ask such a question, not to him. Yet, he still gave an answer.

"This is where I last saw him...Saw them." he said in a monotone voice, not showing his true feelings.

She closed her eyes and slowly shook her head.

"Why was it kept like this? Did no one try to repair it?"

"Do you see anyone around here?" he gestured to their surroundings. "Who would want to stay longer than a day somewhere where a fierce bloody battle was held?"

She frowned slightly. She walked passed him and grabbed the statue piece, she gathered the parts she could lift and looked back and forth from them to the statue's bottom, representing Buddha's crossed legs, which was still intact.

"You don't have glue or anything that could stick it together." Monkey said, figuring out what she was planning. 

"Maybe if we balance it correctly, we won't need glue." she pointed at a bigger piece. "Could you get that one please? I think that's his stomach."

He looked at the piece, then at her back facing him. He sighed and went to take it, he figured she won't change her mind on this one. He took the bigger pieces and together they tried to figure out how they all fitted. 

"It's not on the left, here turn it around." (Y/n) turned said piece. "That's the right side of his robe."

"Oh wow (Y/n), I didn't know you knew exactly what he looked like. Have you seen him? Are you pals?"

"Last time you saw him was six hundred years ago!"

"We're talking about Buddha here. Just because he's one with the universe doesn't mean he's got a variety of outfits."

She gasped.

"Monkey, are you saying he has no style?! Now I get why he trapped you under that mountain, you have no respect for the gods or the divine!"

"Bold of you to assume I have any respect for anyone."

She chuckled, happy that this moment brought them together again. Thankfully, the statue was well balanced, so with careful movements, they managed to piece it back together. At some point, Monkey had to put her on his shoulders in order for her to reach the statue's top.

"They're a piece missing." (Y/n) said as they were at chest level. 

Monkey looked around.

"Ah! Over there." he pointed.

"Great, onward!" she lightly hit his chest with her heel, pointing ahead.

"I'm not a horse! Get off me!"

He put her down and she just laughed. He sighed before leaving to get the piece, since it was too big for her to lift.

"Aww, how heartwarming." 

Monkey suddenly turned around and positioned himself in a fighting stand. (Y/n) was standing straight, her muscles stiff. He could still see parts of her face, staring at him with panic and fear. The rest of her head was covered by one big hand, belonging to a leopard demon wearing an armor. A moment of heavy silence passed as light grey clouds were covering the sky, but no rain, just a bit of darkness, making Monkey's eyes glow slightly.

"But what is the point of rebuilding a temple if the faith has disappeared?" she chuckled. "Am I right Monkey?"

"It's Great Sage Sun Wukong to you asshole!" he exclaimed. 

"Oh? But that's what she calls you. That's what your master called you too right?" she looked at (Y/n) while he groaned in anger. "Where is he anyway?" she leaned a bit closer like she was expecting an answer. "Oh he passed away? Ow~. Mmh~." she smiled seeing Monkey's reaction, gritting his teeth.

"Let her go!"

Her sly grin grew larger.

"No, I don't think I will. Not yet."

Meanwhile, (Y/n) slowly reached for her bag's pocket where a few paper seals were.

"Now now now." the demon squeezed her head, making her stop moving. "Don't do anything stupid."

"If you're using her to make me surrender, then you are the biggest coward I've ever encountered." Monkey said between his teeth.

"I'm not, not exactly." she paused. "I am getting at you."

He frowned, not understanding.

"You see, me and my men have been sent to capture you both and bring you to our King, after we learned what happened to my dear cousin, the tiger demon. And we were all taking a break when I decided to see what was ahead, and that is when I heard you two. And I thought 'let's pay them a visit, see if what I heard was true'." she paused. "I wanted to show you something."

"Show us something?"

"Yes." she looked at (Y/n), shaking under her touch. "You are weak, weaker than your predecessor, though you are better in terms of stealth, you do not compare to him in anything else. And he got killed and eaten. Even though he didn't give my lord immortality he was still a tasty snack-"

"Shut the fuck up!!!" Monkey shouted.

"And you," she smiled, enjoying every moment of this. "do you realize the situation you're in? Do you see how easy it would be for me to kill her? You never saw, or sensed me coming, even your reflexes got sloppy. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and say it's because you lost all of your powers and was trapped for a hundred years. And yet, the fact of the matter remains:" she leaned a bit closer. "you are incapable of protecting your master, yet again. Right now, you have no power, you're no Great Sage, you're not even a king. You're just a monkey with a heavy stick."

She waited a moment, lingering on Monkey's enraged expression.

"Ooo, scary~." she cooed. "I'll go now, see you soon~."

Then, she let (Y/n) go, whose shaky legs gave up on her, and flew away to the horizon with incredible speed. The wind her take-off produced made the statue fall to pieces again. (Y/n) placed a hand on her chest, panting, trying to calm her fast beating heart as Monkey walked up to her.

"Come on." he grabbed her by the wrist and lifted her up before walking away, pulling her behind him.

"Wha-where?" she asked, confused.

"You're going to hide somewhere safe while I take on the demons."

"Huh?! No!" she tried to get away, but his grip was too strong. "You can't do that!"

"What? Are you saying I can't defeat them?"

"Yes!"

He suddenly stopped and looked at her with a piercing stare. She felt so tiny and a part of her wanted to look down and shut up, but she refused.

"It's a whole army, they'd be too many for you to keep up!"

"You're saying I'm weak?!"

"I am saying that they can fly! And they have powers! Probably the same powers that put that seal on your back!"

He gritted his teeth, his frown deepened. She hit his chest, he didn't react to it.

"So stop acting stubborn and let's just get out of here!"

"Running away? You want *me* to run away?! I would much rather die! And I'm immortal remember?!"

"I know that! But I'm no-!"

"You shut your mouth now you are not going to die." he suddenly leaned closer to her face, pointing at her. From the sound of his voice, he was restraining his volume, she must've struck a cord. "I am not letting you die here again."

(Y/n)'s eyes widen at his slip of the tongue. He realized what he just said and for a brief moment, his eyebrows furrowed. He shook his head as he turned around and continued walking without another word.

"No wait! Monkey! Let me go!"

She leaned back with all her weight but her feet only left two strings of dirt on the ground behind her as she was being dragged by him. She kept protesting but he ignored her, her cries echoing through the silent land. This was even worse than the separating silence she thought. 

"Stop ignoring me! Listen!"

Even though he thought of her safety, he would still abandon her just to prove himself, and she knew he would likely not come back.

"Let me go! Stop!!!"

He suddenly cried in pain and fell on the ground, gripping his crown as he wiggled around for a while. 

"What...?! The...?! Hell?!" he yelled through the pain.

"I-If that's what it takes to knock some sense into you I'll do it again!"

"You...don't know what you're talking about!"

"Maybe I don't, but you are clearly blinded by your feelings right now!"

"Feelings?!"

"Yeah you know, anger, revenge, that's how grief works to some peopl-"

"How would you know?!?!?!"

With the look of rage he gave her, she would be terrified in any other situation, but right now, it only angered her. Without thinking, she kicked him in the stomach. Even though it was nothing compared to the crown's curse, it still shocked him into silence.

"How dare you ask me that?!?!?!" she said with a similar volume. "I *do* know and you know it!!!"

Finally, the pain stopped and Monkey sat up and took a moment to calm his head, panting.

"Right...sorry." he quietly said. "I wasn't thinking."

"Yeah. You weren't."

As he frantically shook his head and scratched his hair, she took a look around, fearing to see the demons approaching in the distance. Then, she felt a certain feeling of deja vu, which was weird in and of itself since she's never been here before. She recalled what the Earth God said. Following that feeling, she walked to a different direction.

"Where're you going?" Monkey asked.

"I think... I think my spirit is remembering." she gestured him to follow her. "Come on."

"(Y/n)!" he called out but she didn't respond.

He sighed sharply and stood up, he didn't want her to wander around places he hasn't certified as safe. She looked back to make sure he was following her and was glad when she saw that he was. They walked in between two hills, the path getting more and more narrow, like they were between two walls. (Y/n) kept looking ahead as Monkey looked around and sometimes behind him, he didn't recognize this part of the land. Also, neither of them realized there's been a role reversal. 

Then, they entered a patch of trees in a little clearing. (Y/n) stopped for a moment and they both looked around. Monkey thought this would be a good enough hiding spot and he was about to tell her that this is where they part ways before the battle when she let out an 'Oh!'

"Right there!" she said before rushing towards what seemed to be an entrance leading into the hill, the doorway made of stone. 

"Ah~ you found it at last!" Monkey yelped when the Earth God from this morning appeared right in front of him, yet was facing (Y/n). "Took longer that I expected but that's fine, come on in." he pointed at Monkey with his cane. "That goes for you too."

"Stop pointing at me with that thing! I will break it!"

The god ignored him and walked inside the hill. (Y/n) looked at him, he sighed, hanging his head down, and dragged his feet towards her. She smiled and stepped in.

They walked through a dark narrow hallway before entering a large room with stone pillars. It seemed to be the god's home. By the architecture, it looked like it was once very fancy but the furniture looked either handmade or very old. A few candle were lit, illuminating the room dimly along with stripes of dark daylight coming from the holes in the very high ceiling. The two companions observed their surroundings as the Earth God walked over to the other side of the room, where multiple shelves were. On it were a variety of artifacts and objects, but he picked up one in particular. He then walked back to (Y/n) and handed it to her. 

"Here."

She took it as her and Monkey leaned a bit closer. It was a notebook with 'Sutras' written on the cover.

"That's Tripitaka's." Monkey said, making her look at him with big eyes. "How come *you* have it?!"

"Don't look at me like that, he gave it to me." the old god shrugged.

"Huh?"

"Why?" (Y/n) asked.

"One day he called for an Earth God, I appeared and he gave it to me, saying that one day, his successor may come by and need it more than him. I remember, he said he already knew all of his sutras by heart."

"...So that's where he went." Monkey looked back at the book.

'He must've known something bad was going to happen.' she thought.

"I also have his japamala if you want." he pointed at the shelves with his thumb. "After he died, I was able to sneak in the battlefield and grab it without the demons noticing."

"His necklace...?" Monkey whispered as he walked to the other side of the room.

(Y/n) flipped through the pages to have a quick look at the sutras.

"I recognize some, but others I've never heard of before."

"Yeah, they are extra powerful. He must've made his own."

"You can do that?" 

"'Course you can. You didn't know that?"

"I don't know much..." she glanced to the side before looking back at him. "Could you teach me?"

"Oh child," he rubbed his head, chuckling lowly. "I'm not a monk. I'm just an old god with lots of time on his hands. You could try asking questions, I may be able to answer a few of them."

She nodded.

"I've never received proper training, I'm self-taught and so I can conjure very rudimentary things." she paused. "But sometimes, my powers would peak and become more effective, but it seem to only last a second. I don't understand."

He twirled the tip of his eyebrow, humming in his thoughts.

"What was the situation when it happened?"

"Um...the first time was when my childhood friend was about to get eaten by a demon. And there was this time when I was praying for another friend who seemed to be..." she paused, looking for the right words. "in a tough situation."

"Well maybe that's just it." he raised his index. 

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe it's the mindset in which you were at the moment that triggered your powers." he chuckled. "You're a strange one, it's the first time in my long life that I've heard of such a thing."

(Y/n) thought for a moment.

"Then, how do I become better? What do I do to be able to use my powers at all times?"

"Maybe... Maybe you just have to remember that mindset, that feeling." he smiled and tapped her chest with his cane. "This time, it's about the heart, not the spirit. And maybe, if you learn how to channel it, you'll unlock the full potential of Golden Cicada." 

She placed a hand on her heart, frowning slightly. A moment of silence passed.

"Well, you two should hurry up out of here now." she looked at him as he spoke again. "Because as we speak, there are like fifty demons armed to the teeth coming through my land, and I don't want my house to be destroyed." he looked back. "Oh. Maybe I can wait a bit."

(Y/n) followed his gaze. Monkey was on his knees, his staff put aside, looking down at the old japamala he was holding. Her eyebrows furrowed as her chest tightened.

"I'll give you a moment." the old god said before disappearing in the ground.

She quietly took a deep breath and walked up to him, placing the notebook on a table as she passed by.

"Monkey...?"

"Do you know why I wanted immortality?" he asked in a monotone voice, not looking at her.

She didn't respond and sat down beside him.

"I was with all my little monkeys and I realized that one day we will all become old, tired and sad. We wouldn't be able to play, we wouldn't be able to have fun like we were. That's why I gave us all immortal life, so we would always be happy." he paused. "He was my first ever experience with grief." 

"Well...being immortal doesn't mean you won't suffer from all the changes of life, and grief is a part of that. It's one of the most universals of truths: people die..." she looked to the side. "There's no special cases for that."

A moment of silence passed. Monkey glanced at her.

"I'm a special case."

She chuckled and nudged him.

"That's because you're the Monkey King."

"Heh, damn right." he smiled, but soon slowly shook his head. "It's...this isn't a desirable feeling."

"...It really isn't." she nodded.

Silence passed. Then he looked at her and shifted to fully face her, putting the necklace aside.

"You've dealt with it, how did you do it? How do you stop the heartbreak? What do you do when everything about that person just tears you apart? How can you move on when even the happy memories become unbearable to remember?! And you can't bring yourself to ever forget them because that would just be like a second death for them so you keep thinking about them and it's just one painful circle that you can't escape from! It is so insufferable!" he gripped his head in frustration, then he sighed and let his hands fall on his lap. "How do you deal with that?"

(Y/n) looked into his eyes, her lips pursued with an expression of sad empathy.

"...you cry."

Monkey's eyes slowly widen, a flow of feelings hitting him with just those two words. He shut his eyes closed and inhaled as if he was in a deep pain, then exhaled as he slowly placed his forehead on her shoulder, hiding his face. She could feel him shaking and her own eyes became teary. She put her hands on the back of his head, gently caressing his hair.

"And you remember that, wherever they are, they still love you." she said in a soft voice, slightly shaking due to her own feelings resurfacing. "And that is the one things that's never going to change." she smiled faintly.

The two of them stayed like this for a while. In the silence of the room, only Monkey's uneven breath could be heard, sniffing from time to time. (Y/n) closed her eyes and leaned her head on his, a single tear falling down each of her eyes. In this moment, she felt heartbroken, yet serene. She didn't know it, but Monkey felt the same way. They grieved their loved ones, a painful process, but at least they weren't alone.

As Monkey seemed to calm down a bit, she caressed his back, her hand slowly going up and down, and it just happened to stop at the center. Just then a blue light shined from her palm. Monkey, sensing what was happening, instantly looked up and she looked at him, she gasped when she saw the light. She was about to remove her hand but he covered it with his.

"(Y/n)," he looked at her with a shocked expression, his eyes slightly red and puffy. "your eyes!"

He didn't have to explain for her to understand what was happening. In this moment, her powers peaked and pushed through her father's cursed. They were now cyan. She concentrated and pressed her hand on his back.

"Alright boys." the leopard demon turned to face her men. "Until we find those two, destroy or eat everything you see. It's up to you."

"Do we destroy the hills too?" someone asked.

"Do you see any other thing here?" she gestured around her. "The temple is already destroyed."

"I thought you wanted us to eat it."

"Why in the world would I want that?"

"W-well, you are fuckin' crazy."

She clicked her tongue.

"That's fair."

"General! General!" another soldier pointed ahead. "Over there! Look!"

She looked over to see her two targets in the distance, walking towards them. She raised an eyebrow and gestured her men to follow her. The two sides walked towards each-other and stopped once they were at hearing distance. The leopard demon and (Y/n) took once step further from their respected soldiers.

"Quite an army you got there!" the demon exclaimed, making her men laugh.

"Thanks! Can't say the same about yours!"

A mocking 'ooo~' resonated through the crowd.

"You talk a lot of sass for someone who's facing her demise." she smirked. "Tell me, are you giving up? 'Cause I said you were neat when it comes to stealth yet here you are walking in plain sight. Are you asking to be captured?"

"On the contrary, I'm getting at you."

"Ooo~ callback. Okay, I'll bite: what do you mean?"

"You said I was weak."

"Oh! Did that all change during those couple of hours?! I can see that with your totally cyan eyes!" her men cackled.

It was all ironic, her eyes were still (e/c), of course they were. Monkey smirked, (Y/n) smiled.

"You did forget something..."

Suddenly, he exploded in a big cloud of smoke. The demon were protecting themselves because of the gust of wind it created. The leopard demon looked ahead to see the human smiling widely at her with her arms open, and just as a giant dark silhouette appeared in the smoke, she said:

"I'm Golden Cicada!"

Then, a giant hand broke through the smoke and with one swing made it all go away. The 6 feet tall monkey was now replaced by a giant ape three times his size. The human ran away as the ape charged towards the demons. Some ran away, screaming that Sun Wukong was back, but the leopard demon ordered her men to stay put and fight. Monkey's roar echoed throughout the hills and proceeded to beat the demons to a pulp. Even though they had powers, because the demons were afraid, they were hesitant in their movements and so it was easier for him to defeat them. However, the leopard demon, in her endless self-confidence, refused to admit defeat and when only the two of them were left, the real battle began.

Monkey had things to settled with her and she was too stubborn to back down. Using her flight and speed, she hovered around him, landing a couple of hits on him. As her spear was dug into his arm, he exploded into a big cloud of smoke again. When it cleared, Monkey was back to normal, holding her spear in one hand and his staff in the other. He pulled her spear for her to get closer then swung his staff down on her. She fell on the ground, successfully landing on her feet and was about to fly again when she realized she couldn't move her feet. She looked down and saw that they were sinking into the earth. She looked back up and watched as Monkey, a big smile on his face, fell down on her.

"Monkey with a heavy stick! Coming through!" he shouted before landing his staff right on her skull.

In the distance, (Y/n) and the Earth God watched as Monkey created a big crater on the ground, shaking the ground beneath them. She stumbled a bit, but the old god didn't react.

"I don't think she'll survive this one." he commented.

(Y/n) ran towards the battlefield. She stopped at the edge of the crater and saw Monkey standing in front of the now dead general. His tunic has been ruined a long time ago, revealing his upper body, the seal that used to cover his whole back now lost its outer circle. She was about to call out for him when he burst out laughing and started to jump from joy, transforming into different animals and objects, enjoying his re-found power. As a sparrow, he flew up and turned back to his original form while still in the air, a big happy smile on his face.

"I feel like myself again! This is awesome!" as he was falling, he noticed her and his face lit up even more. "(Y/n)!"

He landed on his feet and ran up to her, holding her in a tight hug.

"Thank you thank you thank you!" he picked her up by the waist. "If you keep it up, I could get all of my powers back!" he laughed.

"Monkey please!" she exclaimed, overwhelmed with his sudden affection but still smiling. "You're at a ten right now, I need you at a six."

He put her down but kept jumping lightly up and down from joy. Seeing him like this, she couldn't help but chuckled.

"You removed the first circle~!" he chanted.

"I did~!" she jumped too, his enthusiasm getting to her.

They both started giggling like children.

"Dancing on the grave of your enemies?" they looked over to see the old Earth God. "Bold."

They walked up to him.

"Thanks for your help old man." Monkey said. "It would've taken longer for me to beat her if you haven't stuck her to the ground."

"You're welcome. I didn't want you all to cause even more damage to my land."

"Come on now, we're the ones who stopped them from destroying everything." (Y/n) pointed at them both.

"You two are the reasons they were here in the first place!"

She looked down, feeling bad.

"...But," he turned around. "I suppose that they would caused chaos anyway. I did hear that their general was crazy."

She smiled.

"Now come on you two." he began to walk away. "We have to patch up the monkey. He's bleeding all over my grass. And after that you'll clean up your mess."

"Heh, naturally." Monkey said as him and (Y/n) followed him back to his home.

After bandaging his arm and part of his back and chest, and giving him new clothes, Monkey asked for a favor.

"You got any glue?"

It took them the rest of the day to clean up the ruined temple and restore the Buddha's statue, now with the assistance of the Earth God. It went about as well as you'd expect it.

"No you fool!" he exclaimed, watching as the two of them were working. "It's the right side of his tunic. Turn it around."

"That's what I said!" (Y/n) exclaimed, pointing at him.

"Oh please! I bet you local god have never even seen Buddha before."

"Oh I'm sorry, did you spent all your life with this statue? Did you make it? I didn't know sculpture was one of your hobby Monkey King!"

(Y/n) tried not to chuckle, but she did snicker. Monkey glared at her.

"He even said Buddha had no style."

"What?! How dare he?!"

"First of all I'm right here, and I dare you to say that to my face! Second: (Y/n) stop siding with this old geezer!"

They both gasped. The god looked down, his feelings hurt (though Monkey suspected him to be pretending).

"Did you just called a god an old geezer?!" (Y/n) said as she patted his back.

"And I'll do it again!"

When the statue was restored, the three of them looked at what they did with the satisfied feeling of having completed a task.

"You guys did great!" the Earth God gave them a thumb up.

"We did everything!" Monkey shouted.

It was getting dark, thankfully the old god invited them in his home where they spent the night. The next morning, he gave Tripitaka's notebook and necklace to (Y/n).

"I haven't had this much fun in a long while." he chuckled and bowed to her. "You're both forever welcome in my land."

"Aw~!" she smiled. "Thank you Sir!"

"Just Shu-hui is fine."

She gasped, feeling her heart squeeze with the fact that a god just allowed her to call him by his name.

"Thank you Shu-hui! Goodbye!" she bowed before joining Monkey, she leaned closer to him and whispered. "I'm on a first name basis with a god!"

"He's a simple Earth God, it's nothing special-."

"Shut up, let me have this!" she raised her hand to stop him.

He rolled his eyes, smiling.

On their way, the two companions passed by the statue and looked at it one last time.

"Oh, Monkey."

(Y/n) stopped and reached in her bag, Monkey stopped and turned to face her. She handed him Tripitaka's japamala.

"I already have mine, so I want you to have it." she smiled.

He looked at her, his lips slightly parted, then back at the necklace. Eventually, he smiled and took it. But to her surprise, he walked over to the statue and placed it on the statue's pedestal. He then joined his hands and prayed. She smiled softly when he came back.

"Let's go." he said.

She nodded and they walked side by side.

Meanwhile, from the top of a hill, the Earth God was watching them. The crane from yesterday by his side.

"They'll do great, I'm sure of it." he smiled. "I'm sure you knew that from the very beginning old friend."

The crane scratched the underside of its wings and looked at him before violently pecking the god's head, making him cry in pain.

"Arh! Ouch! You damn bird!" he cried as he hit it with his cane.


	12. A vicious opponent

A bird has been flying without stopping for long hours now all throughout the country, going from the harsh wind to the heat of the desert, finally he reached the snowy mountain tops. The bird demon turned back to his original form and fell on his knees, the snow making his impact with the ground less painful. In front of him was a large and tall metal door, the two ogres guarding it recognized him and went to him asking if he was okay. They took him inside where the cold snow was replaced with the heat of the cave, specifically from the various waterfalls - except instead of water, it was lava. They lit up the whole place and so they saved up on candles. They were about to go treat his wounds but he insisted on speaking to their King right away.

They entered the throne room after walking through a system of tunnels. Their King was sitting in front of a lavafall, the backlighting making him look like a tall imposing shadow.

"My...My Lord!" he kneeled. "Sun Wukong he's...he's beaten us! I managed to run away, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who survived!"

"...So you're telling me," he slowly leaned closer, his low voice echoing throughout the cave. "that my best lieutenant the tiger demon and one of my generals the leopard demon were killed by a mere monkey?"

"No h-he has his Gold-Banded Cubgel again! A-and Golden Cicada, she-"

"She?"

"The newest reincarnation is a female my Lord." he hung his head down. "She managed to remove the seal's first circle, and now he can transform again."

The King hummed and leaned back, thinking for a moment.

"She's getting more powerful... Good." by the sound of his voice, his demon subordinates could tell he was smiling.

"Huh?" the bird demon looked up, confused. "I don't understand, you're not punishing me for my general's defeat?"

"On the contrary, you've given me a key information." he stood up. "Now that a part of Wukong's powers has been unlocked, we can track him down."

"You...you can do that?"

He chuckled lowly and started walking.

"It's been a hundred years, a lot has changed." he said as he passed him. "Wukong doesn't know this, and his ignorance will be his downfall."

He left through a different door, just as he did a few demons rushed towards the bird demon to tend to his wounds. After a while, the King walked into a tall cylindrical room, standing on top of a set of stairs made out of the cave's stone, going down to the bottom of the room in a circle. At the center was a large hole filled with lava. Poorly organized bookshelves were against the wall, and in between was a desk with parchments of all sizes scattered on it, and all throughout the room in fact. As he descended the stairs, he could progressively hear mumbles. Now at the bottom, he saw the young snake demon looking for something under the desk in a panic.

"Nian Zhen."

"Shit-Aouch!" she tried to stand up but instead bumped her head against the desk.

Cursing to herself, she quickly stood up, stumbling a little bit while still holding her head. Then she faced the king and stood to attention.

"My Lord!" she bowed. "You're honoring me with your presence! I-I wasn't expecting a visit from you toda-"

"Golden Cicada has removed the first circle."

"...Huh?" she tilted her head, blinking twice in disbelief. "Just the first one?"

"We don't know much. She did managed to break him out of his prison -"

Her eyes widen when he said 'she'. He continued, his gaze wandering around the room. Nian Zhen really hopped he wouldn't bring up the mess, she already felt like dying of embarrassment from bumping her head on her desk.

"- but she might not be as powerful as the previous one. Since she wasn't able to remove the seal completely." he looked back at her. "Think you can track that monkey down?"

"Um..." she thought for a moment, a hand to her chin. "I think so?"

"You *think*?"

"I-I know so!" she tensed up. "Although, since only one power of his has been unlocked, it will take time and it might not be very precise."

"If it's just a general direction, that's fine. But I won't allow much time. We've been patiently working for a hundred years, but now that the Monkey King and the Golden Cicada have been reunited, it's just a matter of time before they become more powerful and escape from our grasp yet again. Find him as soon as possible. In the meantime, I'll scatter some of my men around the land they were last seen in."

With the growing frustration in his voice, she just intensely nodded.

"Now," he exhaled. "about the weapon."

"Right! About that!" she briefly pointed at him but then remembered it was rude and quickly put her hands behind her back. "I cleared up the draft and came up with a seal that could potentially work - We'll have to do some tests though 'cause for all we know there's a chance it might affect the wielder too. As for the weapon itself, I'm gonna need some specific materials. I made a list but uh..." she looked around. "Uh~!" her voice went up in pitch and volume.

He sighed, shaking his head. That's it, she wanted to die now.

"Find it, or make another one." he turned around and walked back up the stairs. "And clean up your mess once and for all."

She looked down.

"I did, this morning." she mumbled to herself.

(Y/n) was sitting under the shades of a tree by the road. Her and Monkey were taking a break and she took this opportunity to read Tripitaka's old notebook. 

'Very pretty handwriting.' she smiled.

As she was focused on reading, a butterfly flew by and landed on her shoulder. She didn't notice it.

"...(Y/n)!"

"Wah!" she jumped and turned towards the voice.

The butterfly flew to be in front of her.

"Look! I'm a butterfly!" Monkey exclaimed, sounding very proud of himself.

"Yes, I can see that." she frowned.

With a puff of smoke, he turned back to his original form. He looked offended.

"Why aren't you impressed? I can turn into things!"

"You've been turning into things ever since you got that power back!" she huffed. "It kinda loses the element of surprise after a while."

Monkey just glared at her and then transformed into her.

"...okay that's just weird. Stop it."

He sighed loudly and sat beside her. 

"Why are you so obsessed with this book anyway?" he pressed his shoulder on hers.

Her face twisted slightly. Hearing Monkey's voice coming out of her mouth didn't sit right with her.

"You know, even if you learn those sutras by heart," he continued. "if you're not powerful enough to use them, it's useless."

"Still," she looked back at the book. "it's interesting to see how he tampered with already existing sutras, and even made his own. And it's a good read overall." she let her gaze wander for a bit before sighing through her nose. "But you're right. I can't rely on Golden Cicada's powers and wait to be super emotional to use them." she looked at him with a determined spark her eyes. "I need to become stronger on my own."

"Oh don't look at me." he said, laying back on the tree trunk with his legs crossed and his hands behind his head. "I'm a warrior, not a monk."

She hummed and stood up, putting the notebook in her bag.

"I guess we'll have to find one willing to train me on our way to Guan Yin's island." she turned back to him. "And stop being me! Turn back!"

"Why? Does it creep you out?" he stood up with a smirk.

"Yes! Turn back!"

"Being twins would be a good cover though."

"Monkey please!"

He cackled and turned back to his original form.

It has been a whole month since our two companions have began traveling together. And (Y/n) was happy to recognize the changes in their relationship. The two of them could now pick up on the little things in their behavior. But on this day, it didn't take a genius to tell something was wrong.

As they approached a town in the distance, Monkey noticed that (Y/n) was either looking down or up at the sky with a certain melancholy. She kept sighing and he kept count.

"Eight." he mumbled.

"Huh?" she looked at him.

"Say, what's with you?" he gently nudged her. "You've been bummed out for a while."

"Oh, yeah sorry, it's nothing." she shook her head. "I'm just sad I'm not able to celebrate my birthday with my family."

Monkey stopped walking, shocked, after a few steps, she also stopped and looked back at him. 

"What?"

"Today's your birthday?!"

"Yesterday actually."

He scoffed.

"And you didn't say anything?!"

"Well it's not like we can celebrate it right now." she shrugged and continued walking. "Not normally anyway."

He wanted to argue further but restrained himself as they finally entered the town. Monkey turned into a human version of himself when they did. They found an inn and payed themselves a room after negotiating a more affordable price of course (although with the prize money from poll town and the music band sharing their payment, money wasn't that much of an issue anymore). They settled in, planning on resting for the rest of the day.

"Welp!" Monkey clapped his hands. "I'm gonna head out now."

"Really? Why?"

"I was thinking of doing some uh, some parkour." he pointed out the window. "Plus I wanna enjoy my human form and walk freely without anyone looking at me weird."

"Right, a demon alone would look suspicious to some. Alright," she picked up her bag. "I'll be at the teahouse downstairs to read some more."

"Got'cha!" he gave her a thumb up. "Look at us, using our time in a productive way."

They smiled at each-other before going downstairs.

"Ah, wait." she called as they separated.

He stopped at the doorway and looked back at her.

"It's a big town, so please promise me you won't get into fights with humans. Because I may not be able to talk your way out."

"Don't worry, I won't."

"No- Monkey." she pointed at him. "Promise me."

He hung his head down, his shoulders dropped slightly.

"I promise." he slowly said as he rolled his head back up.

She smiled, satisfied, and sat at a nearby table.

"Okay, have fun~." she waved.

He sighed, scratching the back of his neck before walking out.

As soon as he was out, he picked up the pace and wandered through the town. On a mission.

Given how much money he managed to snatch away before leaving, something luxurious shouldn't be on the list of potential gifts (even under normal circumstances it would be too much), but Monkey had no perception of the value of money. To him, if you deserved something, you shall have it no questions asked. But he understood that having money was important to humans and that (Y/n) would be upset if they were to lose it all. So he'll make sure not to spend it all, and if it comes down to it, he'll use his charms to negotiate. But there was still another problem:

'What the hell do humans give each-other on their birthday?!' 

Back on Flower-Fruit Mountain, they'd offer each-other things that were so hard to get you'd put your life on the line to get it. The more dangerous it was, the better the present. That or a shiny beetle, everybody loves beetles, you eat it and keep the shiny shell, and you can use them to accessorize or you keep them for collection or, even cooler, you make clothes out of it.

But looking at the various shops and stands, he felt like he had to put himself in a different mindset. He paused for a moment and rubbed his temples, concentrating. He wanted to think like a human, but it was harder than he expected.

"I can't do it I'm too smart!" he exclaimed in frustration.

Just then, a delicious aroma made him forget all about his problem for a second. He sniffed and followed it to a food stand with a few people standing in line, eagerly waiting for their turn.

'Of course, food! It's the human equivalent of beetles but with no shiny stuff!' he thought. 'Plus it looks popular, must be good stuff.'

He walked up to the stand owner and placed his forearm on the counter, casually leaning on it.

"Um, sir? You're cutting the line." the man said.

"I know, but it's an emergency. It's my friend's birthday."

"I understand sir, but you still need to get in the back of the line."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because the people behind you have been waiting for their turn and cutting the line would be disrespectful." he patiently explained.

"Get in the back already!" someone in the line exclaimed.

He glared at them with a clenched fist but then took a deep breath and walked to the back, mumbling angrily.

Before he could take his place, an old lady rushed over with a 'scuse me' and stood to the back of the line where he intended to be.

"Um, lady?" he said. "No cuts, get in the back like a normal person."

The people in the line glared at him but he ignored them.

"Huh? You weren't even in the line." she frowned.

"I was standing right here, get your eyes checked again!"

"If anyone can't see straight it's you sonny."

"You stubborn old bag!" he said through his teeth.

"Hey! Can't you take this elsewhere?" the stand owner said. "I'm trying to run a business here."

"See? I got scolded because of you." the woman shook her head. "How embarrassing."

"If you weren't trying to cut this would've never happened!"

"Ooo~ scary~." she sarcastically said.

Though she was unimpressed, the expression on his face was actually scaring the passerby's. Monkey could feel his hands shaking, just wanting to pick up this woman and move her aside himself. But he bit the inside of his cheeks.

'No... I promised I won't make a scene! Dammit!'

He clicked his tongue and looked away as he stepped to be behind her. She huffed in satisfaction and looked forward.

'She got some nerves butting in line in front of a guy like me.' he looked at her, his arms folded and tapping his index in impatience. 'And geez, what's with the ugly hairdo and horrible color combination?'

"Hey fella," she turned around. "I see ya eyeing me like a hungry tiger! What, ya don't got enough lovin' at home?"

"How did you even- Lady you're the biggest turn off I've ever seen!"

"What a pervert! Help!" she ignored him. "This man's tryin' to have his way with me!"

"What?! I'm just standing here!"

"Help me! He's a nasty pervert!"

"Stop yelling! You're making a scene!"

"Mom, what's a pervert?" a child nearby asked his mom.

"Don't look Bojing." the mother tugged on his hand as they walked by. "You don't want anything to do with that horrible man."

"No! That's not true! I didn't do anything! Bojing, your mom's got the wrong idea!" Monkey called but they quickly left the scene. 

He felt his blood boil and he slowly looked at the old woman, but then noticed she disappeared.

It turned out that, while he was trying to keep his 'good with kids' reputation intact, it was her turn to order. She got her food and walked away in a flash, disappearing in the crowd.

"What the hell?! Where did she-?!" he stopped himself. "No. Focus on the mission. At least now the coast's clear." he walked up to the stand owner.

"I'm sorry sir, but we're out of stock for now. The lady just bought our last one." he placed a little sign on the counter with 'please wait' on it. "You'll have to wait for me to buy the ingredients and come back."

"Rah~!" he shouted, his fists dramatically in the air as he looked up in the sky. "That old hag~!"

"I'd drop it if I were you. She's infamous in town for pulling those kinds of tricks." he shook his head. "Trust me, you don't wanna get involved with her. It'll only get you in trouble."

Monkey clicked his tongue.

"She's just an old lady with horrible tastes."

Now that the food wasn't an option anymore, Monkey continued his search for a birthday gift, still struggling to find the right one. The idea of simply asking around for advice would be obvious, but it didn't even crossed his mind of course. Instead he approached a group of ladies doing their shopping and leaned against a wall close to them, listening to their conversation. Amazingly enough (or 'obviously' for him), it worked: they talked about this charming little shop selling items women of all ages would love, and told themselves the exact location in weirdly specific details. Smiling to himself for being so damn clever and awesome, Monkey didn't waste any time and went to that shop. 

This shop must be very famous, there seem to be so many people inside that there was a line outside to go in. Monkey disregarded this bad omen and went to stand in the back of the line.

And then, coming out of nowhere with that damn 'scuse me'. The old woman stood on the spot he was just about to take.

"Oh the old hag strikes again I see!"

"Well hello again!" she looked at him, only now noticing who he was. "You gotta wait, I just got here."

"Get real! You're not pulling that stunt again!"

"What? Tryin' to get a feel again? I'm not cheap sonny."

He gagged.

"Yeah right! You couldn't pay me enough!"

"Oh my lord, Yanmei is that you?!" another old lady with an equally terrible outfit joined her.

'Oh no! Not another one!'

"Rufen!" she smiled, turning her attention to her friend. "How's it goin'?"

"Hey! I'm still here!" Monkey exclaimed.

'Just shove them aside!' was his first thought. 'No no no! I can't, I promised!'

"Look," he exhaled. "it's clear as day: You cut in line. Now get behind me and wait your turn."

Yanmei scoffed.

"How unreasonable, it's just one spot! I haven't seen my friend here in ages!"

"And I have a birthday present to buy!"

"Here?! How basic." she looked at him with disdain. "You must not like your friend if you won't put any effort into it."

At this moment, Monkey looked like he was about to explode with rage.

"Now listen here you little shit!"

"Ooo~ scary~."

"What's going on here?" a soldier walked up to them, addressing the women.

"You gotta help us officer!" Yanmei said. "This scary fella is bein' a real terror to us, poor defenseless old ladies."

"Yeah," her friend nodded. "we were just chattin' when he started shoutin' obscenities."

"These two windbags cut in line!" Monkey pointed at them.

"Now now. Here, why don't you have some candy and calm down a bit?" she took his hand and placed a tiny candy in his palm. "It's as sweet as it comes, made 'em myself."

"The hell?!" he threw it away. "I'm not a baby! You think that makes it all better?!"

She shrieked, which made the soldier glare at him. Knowing where this could go, Monkey groaned.

"Fine!" he exclaimed before stomping away.

Yanmei huffed in satisfaction.

Still fuming, Monkey decided to sit alone somewhere to calm down.

'This old gal is one cunning adversary...'

Not wanting to think about her anymore, he thought back to his mission. But what she told him about being basic came to his mind. Suddenly, something clicked. He groaned loudly and ran his hands through his face.

"All this time I searched for what humans would like," he rumbled. "not what *she* would like!" he ruffled his own hair. "I was too much in my own head this whole time!" he groaned again. "The old bag was right~!"

He let out a long sigh, his eyes closed. He thought of (Y/n) and what would make her happy. And just like that, he had an idea.

"Nevermind I'm a genius and everyone is bellow me!" he suddenly stood up and walked away with a smile.

Learning from previous events, he looked for a shop that had no line. He went in and bought a couple of items without trouble. With a proud smile, he made his way back by the rooftops, wanting to do a bit of exercise on his way back to the inn.

"Help! Pervert! There's a pervert here!"

He stopped and looked down. The old bag was yelling while being in line for the same food stand from before (looked like they restocked), she must've wanted seconds. She was facing a man, he looked angry.

"You old shitbag! Who you calling a pervert?!"

'Ha! Fell right into her trap.' Monkey grinned and crouched down on his toes. 

He expected a fun spectacle to enjoy in a 'feel my pain' kind of way. But then the man took out a knife. And there were no soldiers in sight.

"Now you're really gonna get it! You cut in line, I'll cut you!" he exclaimed before swinging the knife at her as she gasped in terror.

As he did, Monkey jumped unto the scene and grabbed the man's wrist with enough strength to make him drop his weapon.

"Who the hell are you?!"

"Th-the scary fella..."

"I know this old lady's a pain in the ass," Monkey said. "but that doesn't mean she has to die for it."

"What?"

"I know how you feel, I really do. But trust me, it's not worth it. You're no match for the old hag."

'Hell, I'm not either- Not on equal footing anyway!'

The man shook his arm and Monkey let go of him.

"Think you can tell me what to do punk?! Telling me I can't beat an old lady?!" he raised his fists in a fighting stand. "I'll show you!"

He shouted as he swung his fist towards him. He effortlessly dodged it and with just one punch to the nose, the man fell down, unconscious.

'He raised his hands first.' he nodded to himself. 'Justified!'

"You ain't bad scary fella!" Yanmei smiled. 

Monkey sighed.

"I did it without thinking and I'm already regretting it."

"You know..." she ignored what he said. "On closer inspection, you're a fine piece of work. Ooo! My heart's poundin'!"

"Ew! Dial it down, you're creeping me out!""

"But...I gotta repay you to set things right."

"Keep your candy lady." he waved his hand. "I don't want it."

"Oh I have something much sweeter than candy in mind."

"...what?" his face became paler as he took a step back.

"Don't be shy, come to granny! You fine handsome devil!"

(Y/n) sighed with a serene smile. She didn't usually read this much but something about this notebook was really enjoyable. She could tell Tripitaka started writing before he met Monkey and the others, because at some point, she'd see little notes left by him about his journey to the west. Without context, there were pretty funny. She gazed outside.

'I wonder what Monkey's doing.' she thought and stood up. 'Maybe I should go look for him.'

She was already having a peaceful day and was expecting the rest to go smoothly, but then as soon as she stepped outside:

"(Y/n)!!!"

She turned over to see Monkey running towards her like his life depended on it. He looked terrified.

"Monkey? Wha-?"

"Don't let her get near me!" he hid behind her back. "She's not your typical human! She got endless stamina! I can't shake her off!"

"Don't be embarrassed~ it's been a while for me too!" an eccentric old woman ran up to them, smacking her lips. "Oh?" she stopped when she saw (Y/n), then looked at him. "Is that your partner?"

"No, I-"

"Listen here hun," she pointed at her. "your man here just saved my life, he's a gem compared to the pigs livin' among us. So make sure to give him all the lovin' he deserves." 

"Huh?" she tilted her head in confusion.

"If you ever feel lonely, you know where to find me~." she cooed as she blew a kiss towards Monkey and winked before walking away.

He let out a long sigh, panting slightly to calm his heart.

'The stand owner was right.' he thought. 'The only thing gained from getting involved with that woman is misery.'

"I don't know what happened," (Y/n) said. "but I get that you saved her. Good job Monkey!" she smiled and gave him a thumb up. 

He looked at her for a moment before clearing his throat and standing up straight. He handed her a few parchments and some ink with a brush. She looked at the items, then at him, confused again.

"You said you were sad to not spend your birthday with your family." he scratched the back of his neck, his gaze wandering. "I can't do anything about that, but at least with this you can write to them. Let them know you're okay y'know?" he looked at her. "I'm late but... Happy birthday."

She placed her hands on her chest, feeling a warmth inside of it as a soft smile formed on her face. She was touched.

"Aww~!" she took them and then hugged him. "Thank you so much Monkey!"

'Mission successful!!!' he closed his fist in victory while placing a hand on her back.

Because her handwriting wasn't the best, he proposed to help her by writing a draft to make sure she wouldn't make any faults and to have a model to follow so her letter is readable. But she insisted on writing it herself.

"They'll understand what I write, they know me." she said. "Plus I don't want you to read it."

He sighed.

"Sure. It's your birthday after all."

After that they called a messenger and gave the letter to him. He didn't know where her tiny village in the middle of nowhere was so (Y/n) had to explain to him the whole route he had to take (recalling her own and inverting it). He said having this great of memory wasn't part of his job but then Monkey convinced him to make it a part of his job by passive-aggressively threatening him.

"It'll reach them in about a month..." (Y/n) said as they watched the messenger ride away on his horse. "That's too long."

"At least your family can read."

She puffed a chuckle.

"Right, sorry." she paused. "I'm sure they miss you a ton." she realized he hasn't been to Flower-Fruit Mountain in more than a hundred years, a few centuries in fact. "They must be worried sick!"

"Worried? Nonesense!" he posed, dramatically flexing with each sentence. "They know the all mighty Monkey King always comes back! They know I'm the greatest! They trust me, as they should!"

She laughed and nudged him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm usually not a fan of A/N, but I’d feel bad not addressing it: This chapter's based on a side quest in the game Yakuza 0. It's really hilarious and I thought I'd put my own Monkey spice in there~


	13. Human Shenanigans

On their way, (Y/n) talked about some of Tripitaka's notes.

"Turns out it was Pigsy who stole it from you and ate it."

"I knew it!" Monkey punched the air a few times, which made her smile at how he was getting so worked up over such a little thing that happened years ago. "Why didn't he say anything?!"

"Apparently, he looked so hungry that he promised not to tell. They both knew you'd throw a fit."

"He was obviously acting! This pig is a walking stomach!" 

"Dude, let it go."

He huffed, folding his arms. She chuckled.

"You know," she changed the subject. "I noticed that there was only defensive sutras in his notebook."

"Yeah, obviously."

"But, isn't it weird that there's nothing more...offensive?"

"(Y/n), we're talking about *Tripitaka*. He wouldn't harm or even bad-mouth anyone even if they insulted his mom."

"...I guess that makes sense."

"Plus, if anyone did insult his mom, I'd beat them up myself!"

She laughed.

In the distance, they saw a monastery nearby the bottom of a mountain. Since they've been walking for a while, they decided to stop here to rest. (Y/n) gasped and looked at Monkey.

"Do you think they'd accept to train me?"

"Heh, maybe."

Although he liked her enthusiasm, Monkey has been skeptical of that prospect ever since the first time she brought it. Monks were very strict, so the chances of them taking a woman under their wing would be slim. But if she could prove that she's Golden Cicada, they'd change their minds right away for sure.

She took off her japamala, putting it in her bag, and knocked on the large double doors while Monkey turned into his more human form. Soon after, the doors were slowly opened by a middle-aged monk. He was wearing a long coat hiding his robe.

"Good afternoon Sir," (Y/n) politely greeted, bowing. "we are two humble buddhist travelers in need of shelter to rest." she bowed.

The monk briefly looked back inside before looking at her.

"But of course, come come." he took a step to the side and gestured them to come in. "I'll take you to our Master."

As he led them to the main building, (Y/n) looked around, curious, as this was the first time she's entered a monastery other than the one that was her home. The architecture was similar but the clothing the monks around them were wearing were very different. She thought maybe it was a way to tell which monk comes from which monastery, so she didn't dwell on it. They were walking around with a quick pace, they must've been in a hurry to go inside where it's warm and cozy. But even once inside, they all went away in a hurry. 

'Maybe they're late for class?' she wondered.

Finally, they stopped in front of a door. The monk knocked and opened it slightly to pop his head inside the room. 

"Master, two buddhist travelers are asking for shelter." a voice responded to him. "Yes Master."

He closed the door and told them to wait a moment. After a short while a loud 'come in' came from the other side of the door. The monk opened it and gestured them to go ahead, they walked in but he himself didn't and instead closed the door behind them.

"Welcome."

The two companions looked ahead to see the head monk sitting at his office. They sat across from him, Monkey was cross-legged with a sloppy posture and (Y/n) was on her knees with her back straight. She took a long look at him, his robe looked more familiar than the others'.

"So you are travelers."

(Y/n) nodded.

"We come from very far away, and we wanted to rest and stack up on food. We don't have much to offer in exchange but we'd be happy to offer our services."

"If you got any demon problem, I'm the expert for the job." Monkey pointed at himself with his thumb.

"Demons? Oh my. We sure hope there isn't any lying about." he chuckled. 

"May I ask..." she shifted in her seat, hesitant. "can I attend your meditation classes?"

"Meditation classes?" he paused, confused for a moment. "Oh! Do you want to be a nun?"

"No, you see-"

"She's just interested in that stuff and wants to learn." Monkey cut her off. "Is that so wrong?"

"Of course not."

There was a moment of awkward silence, during which (Y/n) looked at Monkey. He spoke so sternly, did he not like the head monk? She nudged him from under the table and tilted her head when he glanced at her. He discreetly made little circles with his index as a way to say 'I'll explain later'. 

"You are buddhists correct?" the head monk asked.

"Um, yes, that's right." she nodded, looking back at the man.

"And you said you come from far away, where are you going? Are you on a pilgrimage perhaps?"

"Not exactly, we-"

"We're just paying a visit to an old friend."

She looked at Monkey again, frowning a bit.

"I see," he stood up and began to walk out. "there is a little town not far from here, you can go there to get food."

"Huh? What about-?"

"Would you like to pray to the Merciful Guan Yin before leaving?"

"Oh, actually yes, thank you." she said as her and Monkey followed him. "But, will you let us stay for a little while?"

"That could be arranged yes, but please try not to disturb my disciples. They are very focused on their training you see."

"Yes, of course."

'Does that mean they won't teach me meditation?' she looked down, bummed out. 'He never gave me a clear answer. He probably doesn't want to say no."

As they walked through the monastery, (Y/n) noticed that the monks' outfits changed and looked more like the ones they'd wear back in her monastery. Maybe they wear it only for their classes? Meanwhile, the head monk seemed to have taken an interest to Monkey.

"What is your name traveler?"

"Sun Wukong." he casually said.

'What?!' she suddenly glared at him. 'What's the point in having a human disguise if you're not even hiding your identity?!?!?!' she yelled on the inside.

"Like the monkey king?" he laughed. "Is it because you are as strong as him? You did say you were an expert in problems regarding demons."

"Nah, no one can ever beat the Charming and Handsome Sun Wukong. He's just unbeatable in every way."

'Indirectly complimenting himself...' she lightly shook her head. 'I don't know why, but this feels even more arrogant.' she smiled.

"Still, you look strong yourself." he looked at him up and down. "I'm sure my disciples would be delighted to see a demonstration of your skills."

Monkey narrowed his eyes.

"If I have time maybe." he replied as he looked away, wanting to end this conversation.

They entered a room where a shrine dedicated to Guan Yin was standing in the back with a tall statue of her. (Y/n) walked up to it and sat down, but when she looked up at the statue, she frowned.

"If you'll excuse me," she heard the head monk say. "I must attend to my duties."

"Uh...Yeah, thank you." she said.

She waited to hear the door closing before standing back up and walking up to Monkey. From his stand, with his back pressed on the wall, he was about to wait for her to be done and be bored while she prayed. 

"Something's off about this place." she said in a hushed voice, leaning over a bit.

He raised his eyebrows and shifted in his stand, leaning over too.

"You noticed? What made it click?"

"The statue." she said as the two of them walked towards it. "It's slightly different from the one we had back in my village. It's sloppy, like the sculptor made it from memory. It also looks like it's made out of cheap material. And also..." she traced a finger on its surface before showing her fingertip. "It's really dusty." she looked at him, concerned. "No monastery would treat a goddess like that." she sighed. "And here I thought that by praying for Guan Yin by a proper shrine I could call out for her and maybe she'd respond."

"Ha! The gods never respond unless you threaten them (Y/n)." Monkey smiled. "Trust me, I speak from experience."

She just hummed, disappointed.

"What about you, when did you realize this place was strange? Was it when we met the head monk?"

"From the very beginning actually." he leaned on his staff. "You've never seen a taoist monk right?"

"Nope, never." she shook her head.

"Makes sense. Remember the outfits they wore when we walked in and they avoided us?" he gestured towards the door with a quick nod. "They thought we wouldn't notice, but it looked like some kind of mix between a taoist monk robe and a buddhist monk robe."

"Seriously?" her eyes widen, then she thought. "But the head monk..." she softly gasped.

"His disciple said we were buddhists and he told us to wait." he explained. "He probably took the time to alter his robe so he'd look more like one."

"And the monk!" she harshly whispered. "He didn't come in the room, he must've told the others that we were buddhists! That's why their outfits looked more familiar after that!"

Monkey nodded.

"But why-Oh."

"Well you know, I encountered my fair share of fake monasteries in my travels. It's all a facade for their real business."

"No, that's not it." she shook her head. "Monks are sometimes sent out to ask for donations, that's how they get their money. If they send a monk from each religion and pretend they're from different places, they can get twice the amount."

"Oh~." he slowly nodded.

For a moment, they didn't say anything, (Y/n)'s shoulders dropped, she looked baffled by what she just said.

"This place is shady!"

"It really is." Monkey nodded again. "What do you wanna do about it?"

"I wanna expose their ass of course!" he couldn't help but laugh at that. "Pretending to be buddhists and taoists, and at the same time?! That is so disrespectful, for both religions!"

"You wanna do that now?"

She huffed, but then calmed down.

"Let's go downtown and rest first." she said as she began walking to the door. "I think it'd be funnier to expose them right before leaving."

He snickered.

"Is that a mischievous side I detect?"

"No, it's the side of justice."

He laughed.

The two of them spent some time in the town's market place, buying food and snacks to eat on the way. The village looked pretty poor, luckily the food seemed to be of good enough quality, and the gloomy look on some of the people's face didn't stop them from having a good time in each-other's presence. But they didn't notice that they were being followed ever since they left the monastery.

"And because I was grounded, I was able to smell the fire just in time before it gets out of hand." (Y/n) was finishing her anecdote. "So in the end, I did help ruin the day, but I saved it too!"

"Wow, this Wu-peng guy sounds really reckless."

"Look who's talking!" she nudged him, he was unfazed by her attack. "And it's not that he's reckless, he's alway just looking for adventure. Also he was fifteen at the time, you know how kids are!" she chuckled.

"Hey, you two!" a woman rushed towards them in a panic. "You can fight right?" she gestured towards Monkey's staff. "Please help us! My brother is in serious trouble!"

"Oh my lord!" (Y/n) exclaimed. "Yes of course, lead the way!"

She followed the woman without hesitation, Monkey walking behind her. She led them to an alleyway and then stopped. (Y/n) looked around.

"Where is he?" she asked.

She didn't respond. Monkey caught up to them and placed a hand on (Y/n)'s shoulder as he walked passed her.

"Stay behind me." he pointed his staff at the woman with a grave expression. "Now tell me: What's a demon doing in a poor little town like this?"

Her eyes widen and she looked at the woman as she faced them, her behavior didn't seem to have changed.

"I really do need your help!"

"Don't play dumb with me. I can tell you're a demon."

"Yeah I figured!" she turned back to her original form, a horned demon. "Listen, you come from the monastery by the mountain right?"

The two companions exchanged a quick glance before Monkey looked back at her, his eyes narrowed.

"Yeah? Why?"

"A while ago, my brother and I were passing by and I was hungry so he told me he'd go there to..."

"To get you one of the monks." Monkey said it for her.

"No! To ask for food! But y'know..." she looked down. "with the rumor that Golden Cicada is out there somewhere, maybe we'd get lucky and become immortal!" (Y/n) gulped at that. "Anyway, he went in there...and he never came out."

Monkey and her looked at each-other, perplexed. She stood beside him to face the demon.

"When did that happen?"

"A couple of months ago."

"And you never once tried to break in there and threaten to kill everyone if they don't hand your brother back?" Monkey asked, lowering his staff but still suspicious of her.

"You dont understand, my brother is super tough. If they were able to beat him, I'm not risking anything!"

"Oh so you want us to risk our lives for you?!"

"I-It's not just a me problem! Almost everyone in the village is a victim!"

"What do you mean?" (Y/n) asked.

"Surely you noticed that there are very few men here."

She thought back to the towns people, it was true, there were mostly women, children and elders. 

"What I mean is," she said in a more hushed tone. "that sometimes, men walk in there and they never come back."

"And no one suspected a thing? I know humans are stupid but that's a bit underestimating don't you think?"

"Obviously the monks lie and pretend they did left! A lot of people here blindly believe them, they are monks! Or at least they pretend to be. And those who don't believe them just can't get any proof that they have anything to do with this! You just got here, you don't know a thing about how things work!"

They glared at each-other for a moment.

"Monkey..." (Y/n) tugged on his sleeve

He turned towards her, looking up at him with furrowed eyebrows. He rolled his eyes, trying to resist but he eventually sighed.

"Fine." he exhaled. 

The demon relaxed, relieved.

"Thank you. If you need any info I can-"

"No need, we can handle this." Monkey waved his hand and walked away. "Come on (Y/n)."

"Oh..." 

Without a word, (Y/n) followed him. She looked back at the demon, turned human again, and slowly nodded as a way to say goodbye.

"We spend the night there, if we don't find anything more suspicious, we're out." he said as they walked. 

"Sounds like you don't believe her."

"I don't trust her." he sternly said. "I saw no demons in there, nor sensed anything out of the ordinary, it's just a normal monastery. Her kidnapping story doesn't add up."

"Why would she ask for our help then?"

"...That I don't know."

"And even if we are being tricked, this shady place is up to no good for sure," she looked forward, frowning. "so we have to do something."

They went back to the head monk and made up an excuse to stay for the night. He said he didn't mind but he also tried to come up with any excuse for them to spend the night at the town's inn instead. Thankfully, our two protagonists were used to deal with stubbornness (given the time they spent with each-other), so in the end, they were offered a room. There were some ground rules, basically a mean to prevent them from being nosy, and they both behaved well during the evening.

Right now, it was dinnertime, the only meal offered was only a bowl of rice and an apple. Because Monkey didn't eat rice, (Y/n) gave him her apple and in exchange he gave her his bowl.

'Looks like a meal people *think* monks have on the daily...' she thought. 'Or maybe the cook we have is just special, he does say he's 'built different' all the time, whatever that means.' she smiled to herself before discreetly observing the people at the table.

They quietly ate, but she noticed they moved slowly, and when someone was served, their face would twist slightly. As if they were used to something more copious. She glanced at Monkey, looked like he noticed too.

"Master." a monk entered the room. "Um, they're here to see you."

The head monk briefly looked at his two guests before speaking. They took notice of his moment of hesitation.

"Tell them we can talk tomorrow."

"Are you sure? It might be important." (Y/n) said as his disciple nodded and left.

"Oh trust me, they regularly come here for a-a blessing." he smiled. "But I still have a lot to do, so they'll have to wait until tomorrow."

It was pretty obvious he was lying, but they didn't say anything and kept eating.

"Head monk," Monkey said without looking up from his apple. "you got a stain on your robe."

Everyone, including the man, looked at his robe. There was indeed a little black stain that would've easily go unseen unless you were looking for it.

"Oh my." he said before trying to wipe it away.

But it only spread it more. Monkey recognized it, it was coal.

"Playin' with fire lately?" he glanced at him.

He chuckled and gave up on trying to make it go away.

"A little mishap in the kitchen, nothing more." 

(Y/n) slightly narrowed her eyes. The head monk never steps foot in the kitchen, and even if he did, they're no way there would even be a 'mishap' if they wanted to make them believe they cooked rice everyday. Her and Monkey made sure to tell each-other what they noticed once they were alone.

It was when nighttime came that they decided to act. While everyone fell asleep, Monkey planned to look around without being seen.

"I could come too." (Y/n) said in a hushed voice. "We could cover more ground if we split up."

"No, you have to stay." he said in a similar tone. "Just in case one of the monks comes by, you'll have to cover for me." he gestured towards the pillows under his bed sheet and opened the door just a little bit. "I'll be back within an hour."

"Be careful."

He smirked at her.

"Don't need to be." he said and turned into a fly before buzzing out of the room.

Now alone, she sighed. Now all she had to do was wait.

To keep herself occupied, she tried learning Tripitaka's sutras, glancing at the door from time to time. Then she heard noises outside the opened window. She peeked out into the courtyard and saw the head monk walking out. She quickly blew out the single candle illuminating the room before observing him. He walked across the courtyard towards the front doors, in a rush. He opened them but stayed in the doorway. He started talking to someone and (Y/n) had to lean over to hear him, though she still couldn't hear the other person.

"Yes I know-I know, tell your superior I am so sorry for not letting them in. But, I have travelers staying here until tomorrow - Well, that is if we don't hire one of them." she frowned when he said that. "S-so you see, I couldn't let you in, what if they found you?" there was a pause. "No...No I didn't know demons had this power-Well, I knew they could transform but not into humans." her eyes widen. "I know, I know, I am so sorry. I hope this won't affect our partnership."

'Partnership?' she thought.

"R-right, tomorrow then." he said before closing the door.

She quickly went back inside her room as he passed by, he looked troubled. She let out a long sigh when he went back inside, wondering what this all meant.

One of the ground rules said they weren't allowed to go in the west wing, so obviously this was were Monkey headed first. There were shrines dedicated to taoist gods, but nothing more. So far (Y/n)'s theory was still standing. He spotted one of the monks walking down one of the hallways and followed him closely. The man tried to make this 'fly' go away but it swiftly dodged his hand. He stopped by a door and knocked on it. Another monk opened.

"You got 'em?" the first one asked.

He nodded and handed him a bag of oranges while he was holding a whole piece of ham. The two of them walked away while carrying the items and Monkey stood (well, flew in place) there confused for a moment, but he quickly shook his head before following them again, circling around their heads.

"Can't believe we have to stay up late to do this." the first monk said. "I swear, once we make this deal, I'm out of here."

"Ha! You really think the boss won't screw us over and take the most money for himself?"

"If he does, I'm planning a coup!"

"Well, with those travelers, the deal's been postponed apparently."

He groaned.

"When are those travelers leaving?!"

"They said they'd leave tomorrow, but hey you saw that guy, the boss seemed interested in hiring him."

"I guess, he looked like he could handle it. But what about the girl?"

He shrugged.

"Either we make up an excuse, or we get her to stay too."

"This damn bug! I can't!" he waved his hand around.

"I got'chu!" 

Suddenly the monk used the ham like a bat and swung it towards Monkey, hitting him towards the wall. Now, it would be very embarrassing to die as a fly, by a piece of ham no less, so he was only stunned for a moment while the two monks walked away and entered a room at the end of the hallway.

After he recovered from this, Monkey quickly went for the door and turned himself into a little mouse before sneaking in.

"Huh?" he let out.

It was a normal recreation room, but there was no one there.

'They *are* humans right?!' he frowned. 'How can they just disappear like that?! Not even Tripitaka could turn invisible!'

He looked around, he was certain they came in here. But again, he didn't see nor sensed anything out of the ordinary here. Once again he was stunned. He wanted to look more but he knew there was still much to inspect, so he reluctantly left the room. 

He checked the bedrooms, nothing out of the ordinary. The head monk was absent from his, suspicious, but he took the opportunity to turn back to his original form, it was easier to investigate this way. On the night stand was a little crystal. Monkey hovered his hand above it to check if it'd react in any way. It didn't. He picked it up to take a closer look. It was transparent, like it was made of glass. He hummed and put it back. Outside of this rock, his research remained fruitless.

He heard footsteps coming closer and turned into a mouse again, then he hid in the shadows as the door opened. The head monk walked in and sat on the edge his bed, rubbing his face. He let out a long heavy sigh and looked at the little crystal on his nightstand. He picked it up, looked down at it for a moment and Monkey kept observing him in case he does something with it. Instead, the man just sighed.

"Things were simpler back then." he said as he put it back. "Sometimes I wish we could go back to that."

He then laid down to sleep and Monkey left.

  
He walked in and turned back, sighing. (Y/n) quietly rushed towards him.

"You're back! What did you find?"

They both sat down, facing each-other, he explained what happened on his end.

"They disappeared?" she frowned and tilted her head. "Are you sure you didn't just lose them?"

"Sure!" he sharply whispered. "There were no seal, no circle or whatever!"

"Weird that the same people who didn't know that demons could turn into humans can disappear out of thin air..."

"Right?! It makes no sens- Wait, what do you mean?"

"Yeah, it gets weirder. Listen to this:..."

She talked about what she witnessed.

"He talked about how demons could turn into humans," she said. "do you think he found out about you?"

Monkey folded his arms with a hand on his chin, thinking.

"Nah," he shook his head. "it's most likely that the person he was talking to was a demon themselves, that's why he sent them away when we were having dinner. He didn't want to risk us seeing his 'partner'."

"And what is this partnership he talked about...?" (Y/n) also put a hand on her chin. "Probably something that has to do with what they're hiding."

"The two monks talked about a deal. So it must be a business partner." Monkey nodded.

"So, your theory was the correct one."

"Come on now, both our theories were correct. Why else would they pretend to be two religions?"

She smiled at the fact that he was trying to not make her feel bad. But her smile soon faded and she looked down.

"Business... Kidnapping... I don't like the sound of that."

"What about the demon?"

"What about them?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but since we've been here we've only seen one other demon."

They looked at each-other for a moment. (Y/n) frowned.

"Her? That wouldn't make sense. Again, why would she ask us for help then?"

"To lure us of course. Are you the demon expert?" he raised an eyebrow.

She just hummed, still a bit skeptical. Monkey spoke again:

"I say we go visit her tomorrow for a little interrogation."

"Fine." she sighed as they stood up to go to bed. "I'll trust your guts on this one."

The next morning, they went back to the village and looked for the horned demon woman. When they spotted her they asked to speak privately in the same alleyway they went to yesterday.

"What is it?" she asked. "Did you find anythin-"

She suddenly gasped as (Y/n) placed one of her paper seals on her chest and she fell limp on the ground. 

"Wh-what the hell?!"

"Sorry, safety first you know?" she crouched down. "Could you tell us if you went out last night?

"What?!" 

"Answer her!" Monkey grabbed her by the collar. "Were you lying to us this whole time? Were you the demon who went to the monastery the other night? What's that partnership with the head monk?"

"I'd tell the truth if I were you." (Y/n) calmly said, playing the good cop. "He'll be able to tell if you're lying."

"Oh yeah," he smirked. "I got a sharp nose for that!"

"I swear I told you the whole truth yesterday! I don't know anything about a partnership!" she paused. "You-you talked about a demon right? I saw him!"

They glanced at each-other.

"Okay then." Monkey said with a grave voice, setting her down. "Talk."

"Could you remove this first?"

"You can still talk with it. Don't worry, it just paralyzes you." (Y/n) sat beside her. "Go ahead."

She pursued her lips and huffed, still she talked.

"I was up late and I saw this bird demon leaving the monastery, so I went to him and asked for help."

"After you asked *us* for help?" Monkey frowned.

"I figured a fellow demon would be more willing to help." she glared at him. "He was gentler for sure, you humans still don't trust me."

"Yeah, because you're really suspicious. Also it doesn't mean anything," he turned back to his original form. "since I'm also not a human."

"What?!"

"Please continue." (Y/n) said.

"Are you also a demon?!"

"Nah, I'm a human."

"What's a demon traveling with a-"

"She said continue." Monkey pressed. "Don't make her repeat herself."

She frowned.

"...He asked me to describe him, I did and then he said 'okay, then we'll make sure to take him on our way out'. And then he left."

"Do you know what he meant by that?" (Y/n) tilted her head. "What are they planning to do there?"

"I don't know, I don't care! All that matters to me is that I get my brother back!" she paused. "Now can you please let me move!"

"...Alright." Monkey stood up, turning into a human again. "Thanks for the info."

"By the way," (Y/n) looked at her. "what's your name?"

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I forgot to ask." she smiled, a bit embarrassed. "Plus, then we can tell your brother who sent us."

"...Nian Zhen." she said after a short moment. "Call for Minsheng."

"You got it." she nodded as she removed the seal and helped her up. "Nice to meet you." 

"Come on now," Monkey called out as he walked away. "we gotta act quick."

She waved at her before joining him. 

"...Humans." she sighed. "They're so weird."

"The human trafficking theory still stands," (Y/n) said. "but there's a piece that still doesn't add up."

"You're talking about the coal?"

She nodded.

"He's not a real monk, maybe it really was a mishap in the kitchen." he shrugged. "What still doesn't make sense is their little disappearing stunt!" he growled, still worked up about it.

She thought for a moment.

"What if *I* go take a look at that room?"

"Why? You think you'd get a better chance on finding something?"

"I do."

Monkey blinked twice, taken aback by her bluntness. She chuckled at his reaction.

"And why's that?"

"Because this isn't a demon matter, this is some human shenanigans, and I know about those." she smiled. "Now it's your turn to trust me. Won't you?"

Monkey couldn't help but smile back.

"'Course. But if we're doing this now, we'll need a distraction."

They looked at each-other, having the same idea.

Monkey would never pass out an opportunity to show off, especially to an audience, so he gladly accepted the head monk's request from yesterday to demonstrate his skills to his disciples. (Y/n) said she'd stay in their room to "start packing up". Thankfully, Monkey was so impressive, everyone has gathered in the courtyard to see him, so she had open field. Still, she didn't want to waste any time and rushed over to the recreation room and started to look around.

Like he said, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She thought for a moment then she went towards the wall and tapped it around with her nails. She kept doing that as she walked alongside the walls and around the room. On the third wall she stopped, on a specific spot, it felt different, hollow. And the spot in question was as large as a doorway.

'There it is.' she smiled.

She pressed her hands around it, looking for a way to open it, but nothing happened. She took a step back. 

'If there is some kind of mechanism, it should be nearby.'

Her attention was then caught by a little Buddha statue placed on a little table. She crouched down to take a closer look. Like the statue of Guan Yin, it didn't look very faithful to the original. She wanted to try and pick it up but she didn't want to risk leaving anything out of place. Looking at it from different angles, she then noticed some kind of engraved circle around the Buddha's raised hand. Trusting her guts, she reached for it and rotated it. Suddenly, a doorway opened and she stood up. There was a staircase going down into the earth. (Y/n) let out a giggle of excitement, felling a certain pride in her achievement. But now, she looked back and forth between the secret staircase and the room's door. Should she keep going, or should she wait for Monkey?

Just as she asked herself this question, she heard footsteps coming closer, someone must've forgotten their coat here. Panicking, and not knowing there was a button inside the secret room to close the door, she turned Buddha's hand again and quickly went inside before the doorway could close. She pressed her ear on the wall and listened closely. The footsteps became a bit louder but faded away soon after. (Y/n) let out a sigh of relief and turned around. It was dark, stripes of light coming through the little cracks framing the doorway, they allowed her to see the oil lamps at her disposal. She took one, lit it up and went down.

Once at the bottom, she walked through a long hallway. On her way she stumbled upon two rooms. The first one was a "kitchen". The word is in quotation because really all there was there was a stock of oranges, a stock of ham, on a table was knifes to cut the ham and a pile of plates. The second room was filled with big bags, looking inside one of them, she let out a little 'oh~' when she saw it filled with coal. She checked inside another one and was a bit more perplexed. It was filled with transparent crystals of various shapes and sizes. She took one that was as big as an apple and took a closer look at it. Didn't look like much, like it was made of glass. Turning towards the opposite side of the room, she saw a table, on it was a scale, little bags filled with tinier crystals and tools to carve them.

'It's not human trafficking.' she thought. 'From what I can tell, we're under the mountain. This is a mine!'

She kept going and as she did she heard noises of hitting metal. She stopped when the hallway expanded into a system of caves, karts were being filled with coal and crystals by men chained together, then they'd push the karts to other chained men sitting at tables to separate the coal from the crystals. There were a few guards keeping an eye on their workers.

'So these are the men missing from the town.'

She quickly went to the kinda-kitchen and took a bag of oranges before going back to the mines. She took a deep breath before walking in. A guard noticed her and asked what she was doing here.

"Yes, hi!" she said, ignoring her fast beating heart. "I'm one of the travelers who got here yesterday, my friend just got hired here -he's upstairs right now- and I volunteered to work here too. Uh, and because that put the boss in a good mood he was like 'oh oranges for everyone'." she paused, a tensed smile on her face. "You know how he is."

"Mmh, that is how he is." he extended his hands. "Alright."

"Oh no no." she walked passed him, patting his shoulder. "You're already doing such a good job, I don't wanna give you more work."

"Okay. Hey, since he's in a good mood, could you ask the boss if he could allow us more breaks? I miss the sunlight."

"No problem." she gave him a thumb up as she walked away. 

'He must be a really bad boss.'

She gave out oranges to the workers/prisoners. She could tell they were in terrible conditions, what with the way they gobbled their snack like it was a luxury. Those guys were already living in poverty and now they were slaves. She asked one of the guard for a certain demon.

"The demon?" he said before gesturing to one of the caves. "In the back. Why?"

"He gets an orange too."

"Oh~ trying to bride him again I see." 

"...That's right." she nodded.

"Let's go then."

"Huh? Oh no I can-"

"Hey, better be safe than sorry right?"

"Right..."

The two of them walked into the cave. At the end of it was a cage, and in it was a tall and muscular horned demon sitting down, his arms, legs and neck chained to the wall. He looked exhausted. As she walked closer, she wondered: how in the world will she get him out of this? The guard opened the door and they both walked in. With his back turned against her, she thought fast and pressed the tip of her finger on his back. He froze, his whole body tense, thinking she had a knife or some kind on weapon.

"Free him." she sternly spoke, mimicking Monkey's bad cop attitude.

"Wh-why?"

"Now." she slightly pressed her finger on his back, making him flinch.

"Okay okay!"

He quickly removed the chains with shaky hands. As soon as he did that, the demon punched him in the face and the guard was instantly out cold. He stood up and shook his arms, he looked glad to be able to move again. (Y/n) hesitated for a moment but she eventually broke up the silence.

"Minsheng?"

He didn't respond, he just looked down at her.

"Your sister Nian Zhen asked to save you."

His eyes widen. 

"She told you her name...? Is she okay?"

She nodded.

"She's really worried about you." she paused. "Could you tell me what happened?"

He sighed through his nose and folded his arms.

"I was just going to ask for food because she was hungry." he looked down. "But I came at the worst time ever, there were other demons here and they defeated me. Then those worthless fake monks trapped me in here, saying that if I won't work for them they'll kill me."

"Why didn't they do it?"

"Heh, oh they tried. Takes more than that for a human to kill a big guy like me." he smiled, but it soon faded. "So, during their new trade, their business partners will finish the job."

"Trade? Is that what they do?"

"Yeah, the crystals. And coal too sometimes."

"What's up with those crystals? They don't look like anything special."

"Not in their natural state they're not. It's the hot new thing on the market these days; it's used as a vessel for your powers. Depending on the type of energy you put in them, it can pretty much do whatever the owner wants. They sell like hot cakes."

She wondered, were those the same crystals that trapped Monkey? And the same one that was used to detect him back in the king's palace?

'Like hot cakes... And they're hiding this mine from the poor town.' she frowned. 'What a bunch of greedy scums!'

"Thank you for telling me." she nodded. "Say, will you help me save the other men?"

"If I say no...?"

"I won't do anything. I still gave my word to your sister, so as long as you go back to her, that'll be okay."

He looked at her for a moment before smiling. 

"A'ight, I'll help you out."

She sighed, a bit relieved.

"I won't be able to keep an eye on you all the time though, so I can't guarantee your safety."

"Don't worry about me, I got a few tricks up my sleeve." she smiled, showing the handful of paper seals she had in her pocket.

Monkey bowed to the applause of his audience. He did a few poses, flexing his muscles with a large smug smile.

"Oh my traveler," the head monk went up to him. "your skills are like no other!"

He giggled, rubbing the underside of his nose with his index.

"Say," he leaned over a bit. "I understand you have somewhere to be but... would you be interested in a position here?"

Monkey's eyebrows raised, getting inside would be the easiest way to know what's really going on here. 

"Go on~?"

The two of them started to walk together, but just then another monk rushed over.

"M-Master, they're here. And they're pissed, I-I couldn't stop them."

"Oh boy." he turned towards Monkey. "Stay right here, I'll be right back."

The two men ran away, Monkey jumped on the roof and followed them. Walking in the monastery was a group of demons. They indeed looked pissed, and the head monk was trying to stay on their good side.

"Where's the merchandise?" the demon leader asked, like she didn't have time for his shenanigans.

"I-it's inside, follow me." he said as they started to walk together. "You'll be surprised on how much care we put into it, it's safely and meticulously stored, such dedicated work we di-"

"GO GO GO GO!"

Bursting out from the monastery was (Y/n), behind her was a horned demon and a little army of men in raggedy clothes. All of them were wearing bags of either crystals, oranges or ham, sometimes all three of them. 

"Uh-ho!" her and them stopped when they saw the group of demons, she looked back. "Go through the back door! We'll hold them off!"

"What about you lady?!" one of them said.

"She'll be fine." Minsheng said, he faced the demons and gasped. "You!" he pointed at the leader, glaring at her in anger.

"You're still alive, good." she smiled. "Come on now, your sister's waiting for you."

"Like hell am I gonna follow the people who trapped me here in the first place!"

"Calm down." (Y/n) raised her hand. "There's a way we can settle this without killing each-other."

"Oh?" the leader raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

She put the bag she was holding on the ground.

"You're trading with us instead, take the stupid crystals, pay, then leave!"

"What the hell?!" the head monk exclaimed. "What is going on?!"

"I'll tell you what's going to happen instead:" she glared at him. "you're going to stop pretending to be monks and instead give the mine to the whole town! It's not fair to leave them poor while you're kidnapping their men and stuffing your pockets!"

"Like we're gonna let you do it!" the monks complained. "Do you know how hard we worked on kidnapping those guys?!"

"If you wanna complain, step up!" Minsheng sent them a death glare. "I'm still hungry."

They got quiet after that. The demon leader chuckled.

"Very well." she walked up to (Y/n), a little bag of money in hand. "I like you, you have more attitude than that ass-kisser."

Surprisingly enough, all they asked for was a crystal as big as an apple. So after closing this sweet deal, the demons left and (Y/n) let Minsheng get some revenge to the guys who trapped him here. Meanwhile, Monkey walked up to her and whistled that little 'I'm impressed' tune.

"Did you really planned a coup?"

"What's a coup?"

"I have no idea, but I feel like it fits in this context."

She laughed. Then she saw Minsheng dragging the head monk away with him.

"What is he doing?"

"He's probably gonna kill him and eat him."

"What?! We gotta stop him!"

Monkey grabbed her shoulder before she could got to him.

"I don't think he'll listen even if we force him to." he calmly said. "He's been trapped here for months, away from his sister. I say let him have this one. Plus the guy's a bastard." he removed his hand. "If you let demons die yet save the unworthy humans, that'd be a bad look for you."

"...I couldn't care less about how I'm perceived." she slowly stepped back. "But it's true that'd it'd be hypocritical of me."

Still, she didn't like it. She looked forward, Minsheng was gone. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"I think I'd rather save both humans and demons instead of letting both sides die."

"Who are you, Buddha? You can't save everyone." he noticed the look of pain on her face and suddenly felt bad. "Hey, that's okay. You're just a human- wait no, I don't mean that humans are-!" he sighed. "Look, (Y/n)," he placed a hand on her shoulder, more gently this time, she looked at him. "all those men? You saved them. That should be celebrated instead of focusing on the negative! Come on!" he suddenly wrapped his arm around her neck, making her yelp as she hunched over and he started to walk out of the monastery. "I'm sure the whole town is singing your praises right now, since you pretty much saved their economy! Make sure to give me some credit though! You would've never planned this coup without me!"

"You don't even know what that means!" she laughed.

Indeed, once everyone was back in town, a big party was held, it wasn't luxurious but it was very joyful. The demon siblings weren't there but (Y/n) saw Nian Zhen and her brother at the edge of the town, waving at her, she waved back, wishing them a safe travel. She gave the money to the mayor and talked about the mine, only for a bit though because right now was the time to party!

"Still I gotta know," Monkey said. "what did you do in this mine?"

"Well, after Minsheng knocked out the first guard. We started freeing the other prisoners, a guard ran towards me but I managed to stopped him with my paper seals." she scratched her cheek. "After that I panicked and just started yelling 'go go go'," she laughed. "and I guess they all just went with it!"

The two of them laughed.

Meanwhile, the group of demons began traveling back to their HQ. They passed the town, walking around it so as to not be seen.

"Man, what an event this was huh chief?" one of the demons laughed. "Looks like they're having a party too? How 'bout we crash it?!"

"Leave them be." the chief said. "They had a long day, and we don't have time for that. We have to bring this crystal back to our Lord."

It was then that she noticed that one of the humans, laughing with the girl who planned the coup, was wearing a familiar crown around their head. She burst out laughing, ignoring the other demons who sent her a confused look.

'How ironic!' she thought, wiping a tear away. 'Helping bring your own demise, that is so hilarious!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of my readers (from another site) named MC and Wukong's ship 'Peach Idiots' and I love it so much


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